Web of Lies: Revelations
by Star Polaris
Summary: Alec's year at Hogwarts can't be normal, after all, being the Harry Potter and posing as Albus Dumbledore's grandson is bound to bring trouble. Sequel to Web of Lies
1. Crowded compartment

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.  
  
Web of Lies II.  
  
Alec leaned his head against the window, watching as the students were slowly arriving at the train station. Professor Snape had brought him to the train early that morning since one of the many changes Dumbledore had installed involved a few teachers going with the students on the train to make sure they would be safe. The tall man had brought him to the nearest compartment to the one the teachers stayed would be staying in and had remained with him playing chess until the other students started to arrive. Now, ten minutes before the train left, the train station was packed and the children were starting to board the train.  
  
Alec had been watching them intently, but when he noticed a group of redhead crossing the barrier, he had looked away. He would have to stay away from them. Even if Dumbledore had assured him that he wasn't going to get sorted into Gryffindor, he would have to be careful and avoid them. At that thought Alec couldn't help but snort softly. It wasn't as if it was going to be that hard. After all, he was going to be in his first year... again. He still didn't feel comfortable with that thought, but Dumbledore, being even more stubborn than he was, hadn't wanted to listen to his arguments.  
  
Sighing, Harry looked up when he heard the door to his compartment open. When he noticed the girl standing at the door, he cursed loudly in his head. The girl blinked when she saw him, but then smiled gently back at him.  
  
"Hello there, do you mind if my friends and I come and sit here? The other compartments are starting to get rather full."  
  
Crap, he hardly could tell her that he didn't want her to sit there. Silently, the boy moved to one of the corners of the compartment and nodded lightly. The girl frowned slightly at his shy behaviour, but assuming he was just nervous, she turned to look outside.  
  
"Hey, Ron, Ginny, we can sit here!"  
  
The two redheads came into the compartment, carrying their trunks into the small room. Both noticed the small teen sitting in the corner and smiled at him.  
  
Ginny sat next to him. "Hey, my name's Ginny, what's yours?"  
  
The boy fingered nervously at the phoenix necklace before answering in a soft voice. "Alec."  
  
Ron went to sit in front of him after putting the trunks in their proper place. "Hey, no need to be nervous, Kid, we don't bite... much."  
  
His comment was rewarded by a slap on his shoulder from Hermione. "Don't mind him, Alec, he's an idiot. By the way, my name's Hermione and this is Ron."  
  
Alec nodded lightly at them and returned his gaze to the window, noticing they had started to move. Form time to time he glanced back to his friends, who had gone quiet after their initial banter. Hermione was leaning against Ron's shoulder, a sad look in her brown eyes. She seemed to be lost in memories and barely noticed Ron gently stroking her hand. The red-haired boy was looking out of the window, his head propped up by the hand not holding Hermione's. There was none of the usual happiness he was used to, and he knew it was all his fault. He should tell them, he should let them know he was safe and unharmed, but he couldn't. It wasn't only that he would go against his headmaster... his grandfather's wishes, it was also the fact that he would put his safety in jeopardy, and Dumbledore would kill him himself for it. Besides, telling them would just put Ron and Hermione in more danger; if they didn't know who he was, then they wouldn't act differently around him, and they wouldn't draw attention to them. No, it was better that everyone believed that Harry Potter had gone away and that his best friends were as puzzled by his disappearance as everyone else.  
  
Sighing slightly, he turned to look at the last member of the trio. She was sitting in the other corner of the bench, with a book propped up on her lap, but he could tell she wasn't reading; she hadn't turned a page for the last twenty minutes. Finally, getting fed up with the silence, Alec picked up his bag, making enough noise to draw everyone's attention to him. While he knew the other teens were now looking curiously at him, he ignored them and drew out the Game Boy© Sirius and Remus had given him for his birthday. He felt like playing a game of chess since he had become rather addicted to the game.  
  
He had just started when Ron's voice filled the compartment. "What's that?"  
  
Alec looked up just in time to see Hermione's curious look while she answered her friend. "It's a Game Boy©." Glancing at the redheads bewildered look she elaborated. "It's a muggle game; you can put different kind of games in it and play against the machine." Turning towards the younger boy, she looked at him intently. "How is it possible that it works here? You can't use muggle things at Hogwarts."  
  
Harry shrugged lightly, looking uncomfortable. "It's charmed."  
  
Hermione nodded, but before she could inquire anymore, Ginny joined the conversation. "So, what are you playing?"  
  
Alec turned to face her. "Chess."  
  
Ron's surprised voice forced Harry to turn back again, he really was starting to feel uncomfortable under all the attention; he just had wanted to entertain himself for a bit. "You can play chess with that? Are you any good?"  
  
Harry swallowed a bit, noticing the gleam that had entered the other boy's eyes. "Yeah, I can play, but I don't think I'm very good, Uncle Sev always beats me."  
  
As soon as those words left his mouth, Harry knew he had made an error; he hadn't wanted for them to know of his relationship with the Hogwarts teachers. Luckily, none of them seemed to connect the name with their feared Potions Master. Either they didn't really know the man's name, or they were too busy watching as Ron dove into his own bag, only to come out a minute later with a chess set clutched in his hands.  
  
"Care for a game?"  
  
Harry hesitated, but after a few seconds, nodded in acceptance. He really didn't have any valid reason for not playing. Besides, he knew he had learned a lot during the summer, and as soon as his friends started to draw differences between himself as Alec and Harry Potter, the safer he would be.  
  
The game lasted a long while, and in the end, Ron won, even if only barely. Grinning like a loon, the redhead shook Alec's hand firmly. "Never again say that you're not good, you're bloody brilliant. We'll have to play again soon; I haven't had such fun in ages."  
  
Harry smiled a little smile but his heart went out to the sad edge that had entered the other teen's eyes. It seemed they all were remembering better times. Silently, Harry retreated into his corner, nervously looking at the other teens.  
  
They were all startled from their musings when the door to their compartment slammed open and Malfoy entered followed by his two goons.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: As promised, here it starts again, I hope you like it as much, if not more, than the first part. Thank you all for the reviews and special thanks to Vinnie for her wonderful work as a beta and to Leena for her support (even if the: write!, gets annoying at times ^.^) 


	2. The fight

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.  
  
Web of Lies: Revelations.  
  
Everyone stayed still for a long minute after the blond boy came in. then, as if planned, the Malfoy heir smiled nastily while Ron, Hermione and Ginny jumped on their feet.  
  
"Well, well, well, look who we have here, if it isn't the weasel and the mudblood. A pity that scarhead isn't here."  
  
Hermione glared at him while putting a hand on Ron's arm to keep him away from Malfoy. "Leave."  
  
The Slytherin pouted. "Oh, you want me to leave, just like Potty did? But why? After all I have nothing to hide. He surely was afraid everyone would find out he murdered Diggory, wasn't he?"  
  
Ron ripped his arm from Hermione's grip and without picking up his wand he punched Malfoy in the face before the blonde had the chance to move out of the way. Hermione and Ginny screamed for him to stop, but when Crabe and Goyle moved in to help their leader, they were forced to curse them before they could beat Ron up.  
  
While the seemingly older teenagers fought, Harry had moved further into the corner. The words the blonde boy had said had hurt him deeply. Was that what everyone thought of him? Shivering, he curled up further. He was so caught up in his own misery, that he didn't hear the door to the compartment open once again.  
  
"What is going on here?"  
  
The sharp voice managed to break through Alec's self-loathing and he looked up at the same time as the fighting teens. Everyone froze when they saw Snape's stern face looking down at them. Alec shivered again and tried to hide in the corner even more. That fact didn't go unnoticed by the dark Potions Master, making him frown even more.  
  
"I'm waiting for an explanation."  
  
Malfoy quickly stood up trying to straighten his now pink hair. "Weasley attacked us, sir."  
  
Hermione opened her mouth to protest against that lie, but Snape's voice cut her. "Then maybe you should keep to your own compartment, Mister Malfoy." Before the teen had the chance to answer, the Potions Master's attention shifted to Harry. "Alec, are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?"  
  
Harry shivered slightly, when all the teens turned to face him, surprised at the concerned tone of voice their professor had used. "No, they haven't hurt me."  
  
Severus frowned at the soft voice, he could tell there was something wrong with the teen so he quickly walked past Ron and Ginny and went to kneel at his side. "What's wrong then?"  
  
Shaking his head, Alec tried to sit up again. "Nothing, really."  
  
Snape sighed and put his arms around the teen, lifting him up. "You know it would be easier if you just told us the truth from time to time about how you're really feeling."  
  
Harry blushed a bit, knowing that the man was too observant and wouldn't really be convinced if he told him he was fine. Instead of answering him, he buried his face in the man's neck, and refused to move from there. His thoughts returned to Malfoy's words, and he couldn't help but shiver at the helplessness those memories caused. He didn't look up from his spot, not even when Severus spoke again.  
  
"Alec, what's wrong? You're trembling."  
  
The man put a hand on the boy's back, rubbing it lightly. His concern for the young teen made him forget the other students present at the compartment, who were right now gapping at the man. Even the three Slytherins, who knew their Head of House fairly well, were surprised at the care and gentleness coming from the dark man.  
  
Even hearing the worry in the Potions Master's words, Alec refused to answer. He couldn't answer that question truthfully and he wasn't sure he was up to lie to the man right now, so he remained silent, head still pressed against the man's neck, while his arms went to encircle it tightly. The silence was broken when another voice spoke from the door.  
  
"Severus, what's going on?"  
  
Everyone except Alec turned to look at the tall woman standing at the door. Snape's concerned expression turned into a deep scowl when he remembered the students who had been standing there all the time. "It seems your students and mine can't get along for even a few minutes. They were fighting when I arrived."  
  
Minerva pressed her lips together, glaring at the teens. "I guess it would be too much to ask that you behaved your age instead of reminding us of first years."  
  
Ron opened his mouth to explain what had happened, but his head of house wasn't interested, she could easily guess what had happened, it was always the same. "Yes, yes Mr Weasley, I know. Mr Malfoy came here, baited you and you were not able to use your brain and ignore him. I wonder if any of you will ever grow up."  
  
The three Gryffindors looked down, not having expected such harsh words from the woman. Malfoy was smirking happily, until his eyes met Snape's. The man was obviously not pleased with them and that didn't bode well for them. To the whole school, Snape always defended them and allowed them to get away with everything they wished. The reality was not so nice. The man understood them better than any other teacher and it was true that he often let things pass that others would have punished, but that lasted as long as you kept the man happy. A displeased Snape was not someone you wished to cross, specially not if you were a Slytherin. The man really knew how to ensure that they behaved, and Draco wasn't looking forward to his head of house's lecture.  
  
McGonagall ignored the children and turned her attention to the teen cradled in Snape's arms. "Alec?"  
  
The child didn't move and Severus sighed. "Don't bother, Minerva, I already tried to figure out what's wrong with him. Do you mind sorting the students out, I'll take Alec to the teachers' compartment."  
  
The woman nodded, a worried frown creasing her face as she watched as Severus took the trembling teen out of the compartment. Once they had disappeared, she turned to the teenagers still standing in the room. The concern fell from her face and was immediately replaced by a stern glare.  
  
"Now, what are we going to do with you lot? We can't have you arguing every minute, things are already complicated enough as they are, no need for students to act like they are five year olds."  
  
The students sighed and shared a small look, knowing that the woman was far from finished with them.  
  
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 000000000  
  
Severus walked quickly through the cramped halls of the train, students parted to let him pass, wondering who was the student clutching the man's neck. Harry, who was still trembling in the man's arms, was slightly aware of those gazes and kept his face firmly pressed against Snape's shoulder. A small voice in him was telling him he should stop acting this way, while Malfoy's words had been very unpleasant and had distraught him while he said them, he was not as affected by them as his reactions showed. He just wanted to get out of that compartment and knew that the only way to do it without offending anyone in there was to force one of the teachers to take him out. Sighing softly, Harry moved a bit in the embrace and tightened his grip. He was starting to become too proficient at this lying thing, to manage to get Snape worried enough that he would take him to the teachers' compartment surely showed he had learned to act convincible and that bothered him.  
  
Not for the first time, he wondered what everyone's reaction would be when they found out, because he had no doubt that they would. He specially dreaded the reaction he was going to get from the man that was currently carrying him. He had always hated him and Harry feared that that animosity would return tenfold once he discovered the truth. The worst part of that was that he now genuinely liked the man; he was one of the few who had taken the time to come and visit him without prompting from Dumbledore. Closing his eyes tightly, Harry tightened his grip more, trying to suppress the sudden tears that filled his eyes.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and to Vinnie and Leena for their help. 


	3. The sorting I

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.  
  
A/N: Er... I should have said this at the first chapter but I didn't think to mention it. For those of you that are reading this for the first time, you should know it's the second out of a series of three, the first one being Web of Lies and the third one being Dangers in the Past (yes, it's still going to be the prequel and yes, I realize I'll have to change things in Dangers, so you can expect me to change them as soon as Web of Lies: Revelations is finished).  
  
Some people asked if there's going to be more fics in the series and while I don't think I'll write anything as large as Web of Lies or Dangers, I'll probably write at least one short fic after this concerning Harry's and Severus' relationship. This is only an idea and since I just started Web of Lies: Revelations, I have no idea when it's going to get out, so just bear with me and I hope you keep reading and enjoying the fics.  
  
Web of Lies: Revelations.  
  
Severus had once again tried to coax Alec into telling him why he was so upset, but the child had just clung to him and refused to answer his questions, while crying silently against his shoulder. Even after they were far away from the curious gaze of the other students, the Potions Master didn't manage to get an answer out of Alec. Snape gave up after a few minutes, knowing that getting annoyed with the child wouldn't help him. Sighing, the man leaned back into his seat and pulled the teen closer to him. If he couldn't talk him into telling him his problems, he would at least try and comfort him.  
  
During the following half an hour, Snape gently rocked the boy back and forth, muttering gently into his hair. By the time McGonagall returned, carrying Alec's things, the teen had finally let go of Severus and was now sitting next to him instead of on his lap.  
  
The old woman looked him over carefully, noticing the redness in his eyes and his still damp cheeks. "Better now, Alec?"  
  
Harry nodded lightly; it had taken him a while to get a hold of his emotions, and now he didn't know how to act around the two professors, especially Severus, who had seen him break down. Luckily, it seemed that although both professors wanted to speak about what had happened, they both thought it was best to leave it until Dumbledore could sort it out; instead, they tried to make Alec comfortable.  
  
By the time they reached the school, Severus and Harry were engrossed in a game of chess, and McGonagall had gone out to the corridors to make sure everything was all right.  
  
Looking up, Severus watched as the lights of Hogsmeade drew closer and stood up. Alec snapped his head up at the sudden movement and watched the man questioningly. "We're nearly there, Alec. Get dressed in your robes while I go make sure everyone is getting ready."  
  
Once the professor left the compartment, the teen walked to his trunk and got dressed in the new robes they had bought in Diagon Alley. It felt strange not seeing the Gryffindor Lion sewn into the robes and it hurt him a bit to know that it wasn't going to be there this year. His grandfather had told him that he had made sure that the hat wouldn't place him in the Gryffindor house, and as much as Harry had hated to hear it, he knew that it would be too dangerous. Even if he were to be a first year again, he would have lived close to Ron and Hermione... too close. Sighing, the boy closed his trunk and left the compartment. Once out of it, he noticed the other students leaving their compartments and waiting for the doors to open so they could step out of the train and onto the station. Alec noticed that the other students stepped out of his way, but he was fairly used to that by now so he pay them no heed.  
  
Once the train finally stopped and they were allowed to go down, Alec followed the students to the station. There he heard the familiar yell of first years, and with a small smile on his lips, he headed to the half giant waiting for them. Hagrid was talking softly to Ron and Hermione but smiled when he saw him coming closer.  
  
"Hello, Alec, how are you doing?"  
  
The two teens turned around and looked at him surprised. Harry could almost see them wonder who he was; after all, he seemed to know all the teachers pretty well. Giving the big man a shy smile, Alec came a bit closer. "I'm fine, Hagrid."  
  
"Good, good, come on now, we're about to leave." Turning to the other two teens, he placed his big hands on their shoulder. "Ron, Hermione, don't worry so much about Harry. I'm sure he's fine where he is and that he has a very good reason for staying away. Have a bit of faith in him."  
  
The two Gryffindors nodded reluctantly, and after a nod to Alec, they left the two of them alone. Hagrid led him to the boats, where the other first years were waiting. Immediately, they started to get into the boats. Harry ended up sitting with two other girls and a boy. One of the girls seemed to be awfully familiar, but he couldn't place where he had seen her before. That is, before she looked at him and spoke. "Hey! You're the guy who gave us sweets at Diagon Alley a few days ago, aren't you?"  
  
Alec looked at her startled, and then he recognized the girl as being the one that had been sitting next to him that day. "Yes, I am."  
  
The girl smiled brightly. "I didn't get the chance to thank you. You really helped me a lot, I've never been so scared in my life." Then she extended her hand to him. "My name's Melanie, but you can call me Lan if you want."  
  
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Lan? I've never heard that before."  
  
The girl giggled. "I know, but everyone just kept calling me Mel and I just hate it, so one day, I told everyone that if they weren't going to call me Melanie, they would have to look for another nickname. Then one of my older brothers started to call me Lan for fun and it kind of stuck."  
  
Alec smiled gently at her. "Well, then Lan, I'm Alexander, but everyone calls me Alec unless they're annoyed with me."  
  
The girl laughed out loud at that, and Harry briefly looked at their two companions to see what they thought of all the noise. Luckily, the other two seemed to be friends and were completely immersed in their own conversation, paying no heed to the girl. Turning his attention once again to Lan, Harry looked at her closely. She seemed familiar to him and not only because he had seen her before. She had said she had a few brothers so it was more than possible that he knew them if they attended Hogwarts. Not noticing his puzzled look, the girl spoke again.  
  
"Where do you think you're going to go? Both my brothers are in Gryffindor, but I don't want to be there with them."  
  
Harry raised an eyebrow. "And why's that?"  
  
Rolling her eyes, she leaned back into the boat. "They're so annoying. They have that stupid infatuation with Harry Potter. They spend all the summer talking about the poor guy, especially since he disappeared. Colin, that's my oldest brother, even tried to convince Mum that it was our duty to try and find Harry. Luckily, Mum isn't insane enough to allow him to go out on a wild chase to find the guy."  
  
Harry smiled lightly, amusement dancing behind his blue eyes. So this was Colin's little sister. He had heard last year that she was going to start at Hogwarts, and he had feared to get another crazy fan after him. Luckily, she seemed to have more sense than both her brothers. Cocking his head to the side, he regarded her carefully. "So, if not Gryffindor, where to?"  
  
The girl looked pensive for a moment. "Well, I would love Slytherin if only for the fact that it would shock my stupid brothers out of their minds. But I don't think I'll get in there, being muggle born and all that crap. I don't know, we'll see when we get there." She turned to Alec. "What about you?"  
  
Harry shrugged slightly and was spared an answer when they reached the other side of the lake. Hagrid quickly led the to the side entrance Harry had used the first time he was there. The teen was relieved to see that Melanie didn't leave his side. It was comforting to hear her bright chatter, and it helped to calm his nerved down. While focussing on her exclamations of awe, he wasn't able to think about the sorting and what was going to happen a few minutes away.  
  
A tug on his robes snapped him out of his reverie. "Alec, look at those ghosts. Colin said they were scary, but I think they are just kind of cool. Do you think they are real?"  
  
Harry chuckled and nodded. "Yes, they are, I'm sure you'll be able to talk to one of them at the feast."  
  
Laughing, Lan hugged his arm tightly. "Really? That would be so much fun; can you imagine all the things they could tell us?"  
  
Harry didn't answer; instead he looked down puzzled at the girl that was so comfortably gripping his arm. Strangely enough, he didn't feel awkward at having her there. Maybe it was because it was just a teen like him? He felt Derek moving lightly on his other wrist and smiled lightly at the comforting pressure. Between the two of them, they would probably be able to calm him down enough so he wouldn't make a fool of himself at the Sorting.  
  
Just after that thought left his mind, Professor McGonagall entered the room. She looked around, her eyes resting briefly on the girl gripping Alec's arm. The boy shrugged lightly when the teacher's eyes found his, and he could have sworn that a small hint of laughter crossed her eyes before she started on her usual speech. Harry tuned her out, knowing what she was explaining, and instead, he focused on the small feeling of nervousness that was starting to grow in him.  
  
He followed his fellow first years into the bright Great Hall. Lan stopped shortly when she entered, looking around in awe. Alec tugged at the arm still wrapped around his. "Come on, Lan, the others want to come in too."  
  
The girl blinked up to him, and then followed into the room, her eyes flying from one side to the other trying to take it all in. Her attention snapped back to the sorting hat that had been placed in front of them when it started to sing. On the other hand, Harry attention wasn't on the hat but on the teachers' table. His eyes had locked with his grandfather's worried gaze. The man had probably heard about what had happened on the train by now, seeing that Snape was sitting next to him. Alec tried to smile a bit to reassure him that he was alright but he wasn't sure he managed.  
  
His attention focused once again on the sorting when McGonagall started to call out names. Much sooner than he thought, his own name was called, making the Great Hall become deathly silent.  
  
"Alexander Dumbledore."  
  
Aunt Minerva smiled slightly at him as he forced Lan's numb fingers to let go of his arm. He could clearly see the stunned look on the girls face and knew that she was not the only surprised one. Quickly, he made his way to the sorting hat and sat down. His eyes were locked with his grandfather's when the hat was placed on his head.  
  
"Well, well, well, look at who we have here."  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews (I'm still a bit stunned at the number of reviews I got) and thanks to my beta reader Vinnie and to Leena for her help. 


	4. The sorting II

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.  
  
Web of Lies: Revelations.  
  
"Well, well, well, look at who we have here."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes under the hat. "Hello to you too."  
  
The hat chuckled lightly in his head. "I don't think I've ever spoken with a student as often as I have done with you."  
  
The teen shrugged lightly. "That's not my fault."  
  
"Of course it isn't. But let's get on with this. The headmaster told me you couldn't be placed in Gryffindor due to security matters, so, how about Slytherin this time?"  
  
Harry nearly laughed out. "Yeah, right, a Dumbledore in Slytherin, that would be so safe. Besides, we're trying not to draw attention."  
  
The hat sighed. "I guess you have a point there, being in Slytherin would certainly draw some attention." Harry snorted but didn't comment. "So, that means no Gryffindor and no Slytherin; then I guess it's going to have to be..." Harry tensed as he heard the hat shout: "Ravenclaw!"  
  
The boy stood up and handed the hat back to McGonagall, who was looking slightly disappointed. It actually made sense for the hat to reach that decision, and he could not believe he didn't think of it himself. After all, no one would find it strange that a Dumbledore was placed in Ravenclaw, and it would actually help him cover up his extensive knowledge he has since he's suppose to be fifteen and not eleven like a real first year. While heading to the table that was cheering for him, he looked up at the teacher's table. First he locked gazes with the headmaster that nodded at him with a small, but pleased smile on his lips. At Dumbledore's side, the boy noticed the Potions Master also seemed to be pleased. Actually, Harry was sure he could see some relief in the man's eyes, which didn't surprise him much. He had probably thought he was going to be a Gryffindor, which would have caused the man a bit of trouble. Looking down at the table, Harry noticed that Professor Flitwick was smiling excitedly, and he couldn't help but wonder how the small professor was going to behave around him.  
  
He suddenly was torn out of his musings when someone sat down next to him. The teen couldn't help but smile slightly when he saw Lan's happy smile. "Not Gryffindor, eh?"  
  
The girl chuckled. "Well, it wanted me to go there, but I asked it nicely to put me somewhere else." She shrugged lightly. "My brothers seem to be a bit disappointed."  
  
Harry turned to face the Gryffindor table and saw that Colin and Denis were indeed looking a bit crestfallen.  
  
"Alec?"  
  
Harry blinked and looked back down to Melanie. "Yes?"  
  
"Are you related to the headmaster?"  
  
The boy saw as everyone turned their attention from the sorting to him and knew, without a doubt, that everyone would know his answer before dinner was finished. "He's my grandfather's brother."  
  
The girl sighed. "You're so lucky; I wish I was related to such an important wizard."  
  
Harry shrugged lightly and turned his gaze to the sorting that was finally ending. He sincerely hoped that the girl wouldn't develop some kind of hero complex because of his supposed family. Lan was about to speak again when the last first year sat down and the headmaster stood up.  
  
"Welcome back to a new year at Hogwarts; I hope you've all had a nice and relaxing holiday and that you're ready to learn once again. As most of you know and others should remember, the Forbidden Forest is off limits to every student, you are not allowed to do magic in the halls, and Mr. Filch has added several new objects to the forbidden list." He paused for a moment, his cheerful demeanour falling as he regarded the silent Hall seriously. "As you will all know by now, Hogwarts is now an independent institution; we're not longer ruled by the Ministry of Magic. The reasons that led to such a drastic decision are too long to explain right now; your heads of house will come to your common rooms and answer all your questions tomorrow evening after classes, so please be sure to be there. There have been several changes made of which the most important is that there will be several Order of the Phoenix agents guarding the castle. They will live here with you during the year, and I ask you to not stand in their way and remember that they are only here to see to your safety." He turned lightly to the man sitting a few seats away from his. "This is Samuel Johanson; he was an auror until he became injured in one of the recent Death Eater raids. He is on medical leave for now, and he has accepted the position as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for this year."  
  
The students applauded politely, but Harry could tell that most of them just wanted the speech to be over so they could start on their meal. The headmaster seemed to notice it too, because he smiled kindly at them and clapped lightly. "After all this is said, it's time to fill your stomachs, so go ahead, eat up."  
  
Harry smiled slightly and turned to his plate. At his side, Lan was looking with large eyes at all the food that surrounded them and quickly started to pile things up on her plate. Alec chuckled lightly and started to eat at a more sedated pace. Around him, the other Ravenclaws were chattering happily, some discussing magical theories or happily arguing about quidditch. Alec preferred to keep to himself, listening as Lan talked to several other first years.  
  
The time flew by and soon everyone was standing up, ready to follow the prefects to the different common rooms. Harry was about to follow Lan when a squeaky voice stopped him.  
  
"Mr. Dumbledore?"  
  
Both Alec and Lan turned around and looked down at their head of house. "Yes, Professor?"  
  
The man smiled up at him. "The headmaster wishes to see you in his office. I trust you'll be able to make your way there on your own?"  
  
Harry nodded lightly. "Of course, Professor." Then he turned to his new friend. "I'll see you later, Lan."  
  
The girl nodded a bit reluctantly but started to follow the other first years. Alec quickly made his way to Dumbledore's office. He really didn't want to talk to the headmaster right now. He knew that the old man had been concerned about him, but he didn't want to explain what had happened on the train. He was so lost in thoughts that he didn't notice the small group standing in front of the entrance to the headmaster's office until he was nearly on top of them. When he recognized several of the Weasleys, he took a few steps back and sank into the shadows. The other teens didn't notice him and continued to say the names of all the sweets they knew in hopes of guessing the password. In the end, the gargoyle opened on its own and the headmaster looked at them through the opening. "Good evening, I guess you wanted to talk to me?"  
  
The students nodded slightly and walked past him when he moved aside. Instead of following them, Dumbledore turned towards the place were Harry was standing. "Alec?"  
  
The boy saw the surprise in the other teens' eyes, and reluctantly left his hiding place. Once he stood in front of the headmaster, the man motioned him inside. "Come in, Child."  
  
Harry looked at the other students. "Maybe it would be better if I came back tomorrow?"  
  
Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at the slight hope he heard in the boy's voice. "I don't think so, Alec. Why don't you go upstairs? Severus is there, and I'm sure he would like to congratulate you."  
  
Harry sighed, and knowing that he wouldn't be able to win this argument, he nodded and stepped inside. He could feel the curious eyes of his friends following him as he walked up the stairs, but he ignored them as good as possible.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and thanks to Vinnie and Leena for their help. 


	5. Serious talk

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.  
  
Web of Lies: Revelations.  
  
Severus had been reading one of his preferred potions books when he heard the door to the living room from Albus' chambers open. Looking up, he was surprised to see a small form coming in instead of Albus' larger frame.  
  
"Alec? What are you doing here? Is there something wrong?"  
  
The teen shook his head and plopped down on the couch next to him. "No, everything's fine. Granddad wanted to talk to me, but there were a few students that wanted to talk to him too, so he told me to come up here and wait for him."  
  
Snape nodded and wrapped a long arm around the teen's shoulders. "He was worried about you." Before Harry could get annoyed at him for telling his grandfather what had happened on the train, the potions master added. "Minerva and I were too. I had to tell him in case something was really wrong; you understand that, do you?"  
  
Alec sighed and nodded. "Yes, I understand. I'm sorry I worried both of you, Uncle Severus, but I..."  
  
The man smiled softly and pulled the teen against his side. "It's ok; you don't need to explain things to me, but you need to talk to your grandfather. I'm sure he'll be able to help you."  
  
Alec closed his eyes and leaned against the man's side, drawing in the warmth and calmness from his professor. He was growing drowsy when the man started to pet his hair. "Hey, Kid, don't fall asleep on me."  
  
Harry mumbled a faint no while curling up closer to the man. Severus chuckled and laid the book down. Alec's eyes flew open when strong hands picked him up and placed him on the Potions Master's lap.  
  
"So, tell me, Little One, how do you like the Ravenclaw house so far? I must say I was a bit surprised that you weren't placed in Gryffindor."  
  
Knowing the man wasn't going to let him sleep, Harry rubbed his eyes and turned to face him. "The hat told me I would do better in Ravenclaw than in Gryffindor, but it didn't say why. I'm glad I was placed there though, at least I already knew Lan."  
  
Severus raised an eyebrow. "Lan? What a strange name. Was it the girl sitting next to you?"  
  
Harry nodded lightly. "Her name's Melanie Creevey, but she doesn't like being called Mel so she shortened her name to Lan. She says she has two brothers in Gryffindor. Do you know them?"  
  
Severus pressed his lips together; he had never liked those two and their stupid adoration of Potter. Seeing that the teen was still waiting his answer, he forced his features to soften. "Yes, I know them; they are in fifth and third year respectively."  
  
Harry looked at him intently; he had noticed the slight cold tone of voice the man had used, and he couldn't help but frown a bit. He had forgotten once again who the man had been, how mean and sarcastic he could be. Slowly, a deep dread started to rush through him; he wasn't very worried about the other lessons, but for the first time he wondered how Potions was going to be. Granted, he was not in Gryffindor anymore, and he hopefully wouldn't have Potion lessons with the Slytherins, but he couldn't help but think that he was going to lose the closeness to the other man he now had.  
  
He had known for a while that when the Potions Master found out the truth he would hate him even more than he had before, but he wasn't ready to lose the man's friendship until he had too.  
  
"Alec?"  
  
A hand on his back startled him out of his dark thoughts. He turned his head slightly to face the Potions Master and tried to smile. This was starting to happen too often for his liking; he shouldn't allow all those dark thoughts to plague his mind while in the man's presence. Shaking his head lightly, he was about to reassure the man that he was fine when the door to the living room opened.  
  
They both turned and saw the old man standing there, a soft smile on his lips at seeing the usually untouchable professor keeping the teen in his lap.  
  
"I'm very sorry for making you wait, Alec, but I needed to speak with them. Let's move to my office."  
  
Severus, hearing those words, stood up and placed Alec back on the ground. "You can talk here if you want Albus, I'm going back to the dungeons; I need to check on my Slytherins anyways."  
  
Albus smiled at him and nodded. "Thank you, Severus."  
  
The Potions Master smiled slightly and turned to Alec. Ruffling the teen's hair, he gave him a half hug. "I'll see you tomorrow in class, be good."  
  
Harry nodded lightly and watched as the man left the room, closing the door behind him. With a small sigh, Alec turned to face the headmaster, who had gone to sit down on the couch. Knowing that the man wouldn't start speaking until he was seated and seeing no sense in delaying the discussion any further, Harry went to sit next to him, turning so he was facing the man.  
  
Dumbledore looked at him quietly for a few minutes before speaking. "What happened today on the train, Alec? Both Severus and Minerva were quite worried about you."  
  
Hesitantly, Harry told him about what had happened with Malfoy and the Gryffindors. Then he stopped for a moment and forced himself to tell the man how he had felt while Severus carried him. It was a very hard thing to do even if he had grown closer to the headmaster, barring his feelings to someone else just didn't come easily to him. But he knew that Dumbledore would gently coax his feelings out of him anyways and right now, he preferred to just tell the man and get it over with.  
  
Albus listened quietly as his student told him everything. While still worried about the boy's intense feelings of guilt, he was proud of him. The way Harry was telling him about what had happened on the train showed him better than anything else how much the boy had progressed in his acceptance of other people's help.  
  
About an hour later, Harry was finished talking, and Dumbledore hugged him closely. With gentle words, the old man reassured the teen as much as possible, but knowing at the same time that his words would have little effect until Alec himself started believing them. Once the teenager calmed down, Dumbledore pushed him away a bit.  
  
"It's late, Alec, I'll take you to your common room since I don't think you know where it is and what password they have."  
  
The teen nodded and stood up, stretching out. The continuous nervousness from the past week and the emotional conversation he had just held with the headmaster had drained him, and he felt like curling up and falling asleep in any place. The older man gently took his hand and led him to the door. Through his fogged mind, Harry noticed they were going in the direction of the library but he had more than enough trouble at keeping awake to notice exactly where they were.  
  
In a haze, he heard Dumbledore muttering something to one of the portraits and both entered the warm common room. Looking down at the exhausted teen, Albus couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. He shouldn't have allowed the teen to stay up so late on the first day, but he had been too worried to wait until morning to speak with him. Inside the common room, only a few sixth and seventh years were talking quietly, sitting comfortably around the fire. They all looked up when they heard him enter and quickly scrambled on their feet.  
  
Dumbledore smiled gently at them. "Good evening, I hope one of you would be able to lead my grandson to his room; I had to discuss a few things with him, and I'm afraid it took longer than I had thought."  
  
Dumbledore was very aware that by his actions he was clearly showing favoritism to Harry, but due to the circumstances, he thought it prudent to show that the boy was special to him. He had been debating with himself about how to act with Harry in front of the students for a few weeks now; he was against favoritism, but he needed to be able to make exceptions with Harry when it was needed, so he had decided to act as he always would, considering the boy his grandson instead of his student.  
  
One of the seventh year boy's came closer and smiled to the headmaster.  
  
"I will take him to his room, Headmaster."  
  
Albus returned the young man's smile. "Thank you, Mr. Theeran." Then he turned to Harry, who was watching everything through sleepy eyes and still kept a firm hold on the old man's hand. "Alec, this is Anthony Theeran, he's the Headboy this year."  
  
Harry nodded slightly; he had seen the other boy around even if he'd never spoken to him before. Dumbledore bent slightly and kissed the boy's head, making the teen blush. After standing up again, the Headmaster bid everyone good night and disappeared through the entrance. Harry turned nervously to the other students, who were regarding him in curiosity. Anthony, noticing that the boy was growing uncomfortable under all the stares, gently took his shoulder and led him up the stairs and into the first year bedroom. They would be able to figure out the headmaster's grandson tomorrow.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta Vinnie and to Leena for her help and support. 


	6. Morning with the Ravenclaws

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.  
  
Web of Lies: Revelations.  
  
Harry woke up quite early the next morning. The nervousness he had been feeling the day before came back full force, knowing that he was going to take classes with other people than his friends made him feel uncomfortable. Add to that the fact that he would take first year classes, which he had mastered a long time ago, he was sure the day was going to be a disaster. Looking around, he saw that the other boys were all still asleep so he took the chance and went to take a long shower before the others would claim the bathroom. Once he was ready and dressed for the day, he walked down the stairs hearing his new classmates starting to get up.  
  
Once he reached the common room, Alec looked around. Last night he had been too tired to pay much attention, but now he was able to take in all the details. The most prominent colours were bronze and blue, the Ravenclaw's colours. They were well laid-out around the large room and formed a warm atmosphere, even if different from the one in Gryffindor tower. It was kind of calming, and it seemed to give him the motivation to centre in his studies and knowledge. Different bronze creatures decorated the blue celestial walls and he noticed many eagles, the symbol of his new house.  
  
Some seats were placed around the room, piled up in the centre as in different corners. He was surprised to see that it wasn't as empty as he had expected. Instead, the older students, who were concentrating on their books or discussing their new classes around the cherry tree wood tables, were whispering so they wouldn't bother the others who occupied the room. His eyes roamed further through the room and fixed on the chimney, staring in awe at it. It was... magnificent. He gripped the banister. His body was shaking. The combination of the white marble and the wood gave the impression that man and nature had worked together to create a beautiful illusion. He stared at the flames that were opening in front of him, showing a way to unknown worlds.  
  
He noticed that above the hearth, a portrait seemed inlaid in the wall, showing all those years or maybe even those centuries she had spent there, always looking over the students it guarded. It was a woman perched on a seat, an eagle resting on her glove. His first thought was that wisdom seemed to be deeply printed in her eyes. She was wearing an ocean blue dress that didn't seem out of fashion even with the years that had past. Her alabaster skin and her fire-like hair were evidence in front of the azure sky. Then, he lost himself in the blue of her eyes and a name, only one, came to his mind: Rowena Ravenclaw.  
  
A log broke, and Harry came out of his lethargy, and walked down the stairs noticing that a few people looked up at him as he hesitantly walked into the large, but comfortable room. He was unsure what he should do. Had he been in Gryffindor, he would have gone down to breakfast, even if he was the first one, but now he wasn't aware of what the other Ravenclaws usually did, so he just picked an empty seat in one of the corners of the common room and settled down to watch and wait until some other first year came down.  
  
He had been sitting there for about five minutes when one of the older students approached him. "Hello there."  
  
Alec was aware that the noise in the room had almost disappeared and that everyone was trying to listen to their conversation even if they were not looking their way. Feeling a bit uncomfortable at all the attention, he nodded silently to the teen as the old boy sat down in front of him. Noticing that the younger student was uncomfortable the boy smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry about them, they're just noisy prats."  
  
Alec couldn't help but chuckle a bit when he saw several students start to blush and returning to their own conversations. He was torn out of his amusement when he saw a hand entering his line of vision. "I'm Jason McHill, I'm in seventh year and I'm a prefect."  
  
Hesitantly, Harry shook his hand briefly before sitting back into his chair. Not liking the uncomfortable silence that settled upon them, he decided to try and discover a few things about his new classmates. "Is it always like this?"  
  
Jason raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, Alec? You don't mind me calling you that, do you?"  
  
Harry shook his head slightly. "Alec is fine. I was just wondering if you're all always up so early or that you're just anxious to start lessons."  
  
Jason laughed lightly. "Oh, we're always up this early. It has been common practice in the house for centuries to wake up early. We can't have anyone in the Ravenclaw house to arrive late to classes. From tomorrow, the prefects will be in charge to wake the first years up until you're used to wake on your own. We use the extra time in the morning to review the lessons we're going to get later in the day."  
  
Alec nodded, a bit astounded at the amount of work these teenagers did. No wonder they held the reputation of being the smartest people in the whole school. And yet, looking around, he started to understand that they worked hard to keep that reputation. The same way Gryffindors always tried to show off their braveness, the members of this house made it a point to be the best in everything. Jason once again drew his attention away from his own musings. "I have to thank you."  
  
Harry looked up at him sharply and raised an eyebrow. "Why?"  
  
Jason smiled gently down at him. "You were the kid that helped all the other ones in Floorish and Bloots a few days ago, weren't you?"  
  
Alec flushed, he didn't think anyone would have remembered about it. Except for Lan of course, but she had been sitting next to him so there was no surprise there. "I didn't see you there."  
  
Jason nodded lightly. "I wasn't, but my parents were there with my little brother. He's starting at Beuxbatons this year and was there when the dementors attacked. Mother told me that she saw you disappear with Professors McGonagall and Snape, so it was not very hard to guess it had been you who helped them."  
  
Alec nodded slightly. "You don't need to thank me; I just did what everyone would have done."  
  
Jason chuckled. "Not everyone would have known how to fight the effects of the dementors, much less at such a young age, I'm really proud to call you a fellow Ravenclaw and I'm sure you'll make our house proud."  
  
Harry didn't think he had even been so embarrassed in his life. For once someone was praising him on his own merits and he wasn't sure how to accept such praise. He was saved from having to answer when Anthony, the Head boy approached them. The boy smiled down at them.  
  
"Good morning Alec. It's good to see you awake so early, one first year less to get used to our routine."  
  
Both seventh years grinned mischievously. Anthony turned to Jason. "You called first shots on waking the little ones, didn't you? Get on with it before one of the new fifth years takes the chance."  
  
Jason laughed and motioned to Alec. "Want to come and see what awaits you if you oversleep?"  
  
Harry smiled lightly, remembering the many times he had seen that same smile on the Weasley twin's faces. Standing up, the three of them crept up the stairs into the first years' room. All the boys were still sleeping peacefully on their beds, unaware of the three people who had just entered the room. Harry watched in fascination as Jason drew his wand and almost silently the older student muttered a spell. Alec was starting to wonder what he had done, when suddenly the five teens woke up yelping and jumped out of their beds. Harry couldn't help his laughter when he saw hundreds of small slimy tentacles rising from the sheets. The first years turned to glare at them when they heard the laughter coming from the door.  
  
When he was sure their attention was on him, Anthony took a step forward and stopped his laughter. "There are a few things that we, Ravenclaws, have kept doing through the ages. One of them is the fact that was always raise together at half past five to be in the common room at six and make sure we've looked through all the material we're going to use in class that day. From now on and until you're used to it, one of the prefects will wake you at that time. Today, being your first day here we allowed you to sleep in a bit. Now it's nearly time for breakfast, so get ready and come down. Jason will lead you all to the Great Hall so you can have breakfast and some other prefect will take you to your first class. For the first week you'll be taken to your classes by one of the older students, so you are to wait for them after you finish class, after that you'll have to make your own way through the school. Pay attention because it's going to be very confusing."  
  
Nodding to the now serious teens Jason and Anthony left the room. Harry stood still at the door while the others left the room to take their showers. Looking around the blue room he couldn't help but sigh softly. Would he ever get used to this? It was so different than Gryffindor Tower. He was abruptly returned to reality when a voice shouted from the common room. "Alexander Dumbledore, get your arse down here, I'm hungry and want to go to breakfast!"  
  
Laughing softly, Alec shook his head, took his bag and left the room. He could count on Lan to make him feel better and keep things interesting.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: well, today there's a long list of thanks. As usually thank you all for reviewing, thanks to Vinnie for beta reading and to Leena for her help. Also I would like to thank Dod for writing the description of the Ravenclaw common room and to Pheneatis for translating it so I could place it in this chapter. 


	7. First day of classes

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.  
  
Web of Lies: Revelations.  
  
It turned out that Alec and Lan were some of the first ones in the hall. The older students were still looking in their books when the duo left. Once in the Great Hall, they saw that it was nearly empty except for a few professors that were already there. Harry nodded slightly to Severus and Minerva who both smiled slightly at him. Lan was watching everything with curious eyes.  
  
"Who are they? They were with you in Diagon Alley, weren't they?"  
  
Alec smiled softly. "Yes. The man is Professor Snape, Potions Master, and Slytherin Head of House; the woman is Professor McGonagall, she teaches transfiguration, and is the Gryffindor Head of House on top of being the deputy headmistress."  
  
Lan nodded, still staring at them curiously. "Are they nice?"  
  
Harry had to bite his tongue to not laugh at the notion of Severus being nice. Sure, he had been much nicer to him during the summer, but now that he was back at Hogwarts, he wasn't sure how the man was going to act, considering he was the headmaster's grandson...Alec shook his head lightly and tried to answer Lan's question without giving much away. "I don't really know how they're going to be in class, I've never seen them teach."  
  
Lan seemed to accept his answer and was already looking at the food that had appeared in front of them. Half an hour later, they had all eaten and were on their way to their first class, which happened to be Herbology. Jason was the prefect that led them to the greenhouses since he had Care of Magical Creatures and would be able to get to class in time. Professor Sprout acted the same way Harry had remembered. She spoke of her plants as if they were her only friends. The lesson went smoothly for Harry, even if a bit boring. He managed to win ten points for his house for the answers he gave, but that wasn't such a special fact in the Ravenclaw house, most students were able to answer the questions unlike Gryffindors tended to do.  
  
Next, they had Transfigurations with the Slytherins. The relation with them wasn't as tense as he remembered. While a few of them looked at him curiously, none of them moved to insult them or annoy them. They just kept to themselves and treated them as if they were unimportant which suited Harry just fine. During that class, Alec saw a new side of the Slytherin house. While he had been Harry Potter, his classes had been tense and filled with mutual tries to embarrass the other house. Instead of that, here the Slytherins showed their real cunning at trying to beat them in their own game. Harry couldn't help but enjoy the heated debates that came up during the class when Professor McGonagall asked a question, or the thrill of trying to finish the assignment first. When the class was finally over, they all left with a small smile on their faces and brilliant eyes that promised that next time they would win the silent competition.  
  
The last class of the day was Potions. Harry wasn't really looking forward to it, even if he had the advantage of having previous knowledge of the subject; he dreaded the manner in which Severus would act. Looking around at his classmates, he frowned lightly. They all seemed to be very tired, trudging around him on their way to the dungeons. Alec shook his head lightly, rolling his eyes at himself. Of course they were tired, they weren't used to do magic, and today had been strenuous at best. He was brought out of his musings when they finally reached the Potion's classroom.  
  
To his surprise, Snape was much more relaxed around them than he had ever been when he was in Gryffindor. While the man still held the same speech he had done in his own first year and then preceded to ask questions to random students, Harry couldn't help but notice that the deep dislike in the man's eyes was very toned down. Harry watched him carefully as he asked another question to a Hufflepuff; the poor boy didn't have any idea of what the man was talking about, but Snape only glared at him and turned to another student. Finally, twenty minutes later, the man instructed them on a simple potion, and they made it in pairs.  
  
To Alec's surprise, Lan was quite good at Potions, and between the two, they managed to be the first to produce a correct potion. Snape walked over to them when he noticed they were cleaning their things up and looked into the cauldron. Harry looked at the man carefully, steeling himself to his scathing words. To his surprise, the man nodded slightly to them. "The potion's colour is a bit too light, but otherwise, you seem to have done fine."  
  
For a split second, Alec felt anger rise in him. He knew from previous experience that the potion was done perfectly, and he felt annoyed that the man wouldn't recognize it. But then he remembered all the times Snape had put him down in the potions lessons and willingly accepted the change. After all, Snape telling a non-Slytherin that they'd done fine was more than anyone could expect.  
  
From the corner of his eye, he saw Lan press her lips together, and knowing she was about to complain, he clamped a hand around her arm. The girl immediately turned to glare at him, but thankfully kept her mouth shut. Snape watched them with interest, but didn't say anything. Alec could have even sworn he saw a glint of amusement going through the man's eyes.  
  
Soon after, it was finally time to leave the dungeons and head up to the Great Hall to have dinner. The second they left the classroom, Lan turned to him.  
  
"Why on earth did you do that? Our potion was perfect! There was nothing wrong with the colouring!"  
  
Alec looked at her calmly. "I know that, Lan."  
  
The girl glared at him. "Then why?"  
  
Alec was aware of all the other students listening behind him. "Lan, you'll learn very soon that it's not a good idea to cross Severus Snape. Consider his words as the highest compliment you're ever going to get out of him."  
  
Lan huffed and walked into the Great Hall with Harry shaking his head after her. They sat next to Anthony and Jason, who were both looking at them in amusement. The Head Boy raised an eyebrow to Alec and nodded to Lan. "What's wrong with her?"  
  
Before Harry could answer, his young friend started to talk indignantly. "Professor Snape had the gal to tell us that the potion was fine but that it was slightly off colour. The potion was perfect!"  
  
Alec rolled his eyes, while the two older students looked at her with slightly stunned expressions. Jason finally managed to snap out of his daze when Lan started to mutter about unfairness under her breath. "Lan."  
  
The girl looked up at the now serious boy. "What?"  
  
"You should be really happy with what he said." The girl was about to interrupt when he raised his hand. "No, listen to me. In the seven years that I've known Professor Snape, I've never heard him say that a potion of one of his students was fine. He favours his house above all and had never admitted to any other student outside Slytherin, that they can be anything but idiots."  
  
Anthony nodded slightly. "Jason's right, you should really consider it as a really big compliment."  
  
The girl nodded lightly, a pensive look on her face while she returned to her food. Alec suppressed a relieved sigh and returned to his own food; he had been starting to get a headache after all those complaints. Lan reminded him slightly of Hermione, the girl simply didn't know when to give something up.  
  
Once they were finished with their meals, all the Ravenclaws moved to their common room to do they homework. Alec did it quickly, without hesitation; after all, he knew these things by heart. Soon, he found himself with all his work finished and nothing to do. Looking around, he saw that everyone else was still deep immersed into their work, and with a small sigh, he decided to leave the common room.  
  
Once outside, he found himself clueless as to what he should do. He could go see Dumbledore, but the man was probably incredibly busy. He could go to see Severus, but he doubted it would be a good idea to be seen near Slytherins territory; besides, only Merlin knew what mood the man would be in after his first day of classes.  
  
He was startled out of his thoughts when someone called out his name. Turning around, he saw Professor McGonagall approaching him.  
  
"Aunt... I mean, hello Professor."  
  
The woman smiled down at him. "Hello, Alec, shouldn't you be doing your homework?"  
  
Harry shrugged lightly. "I already finished, Professor, and I was trying to decide what to do; I don't want to bother my classmates."  
  
The woman chuckled lightly and motioned to the boy to join her. "I was just going to see Severus, you can come along."  
  
The teen nodded lightly and followed her, wondering why she didn't mind being seen with him; after all other students might think she was favouring him. Shaking his head lightly, he put that thought out of his mind and decided he would think later about it. Right now he had to get ready to visit a probably cranky, Potions Master.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta reader Vinnie and to Leena for her support. 


	8. A face in the fireplace

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.  
  
Web of Lies: Revelations.  
  
Severus had been relaxing in his rooms after a stressful day of teaching his annoying students, when someone knocked on his door. Grumbling under his breath, he stood up from the chair he had just collapsed in and walked tiredly to the door. He was a bit surprised to see Minerva standing there, with Alec just behind her; he hadn't expected them to visit him. Stepping aside, the man allowed the teacher and student in and closed the door behind them. Focusing his gaze on Alec, he put on his sternest face. "Shouldn't you be doing your homework, young man?"  
  
Harry smiled lightly up at him. "I already finished it, Uncle Severus. I was just trying to think of what to do next when Aunt Minerva found me and told me she was coming down here."  
  
The woman chuckles lightly. "And of course, when I offered for him to come along, he accepted at once."  
  
Snape rolled his eyes and sat down in his chair, inviting Minerva to sit in the other seat while Alec went to lie down in front of the fire. Once they were all comfortably seated, and a house-elf had brought them tea, the two adults started to talk in hushed voices about school things. At first, Harry listened to them, trying to make out what they were talking about, but soon he found his mind drifting, and his gaze got lost into the fire.  
  
He had been sitting there for a long while, ignoring everything else that was going around him, when suddenly something flashed in front of his eyes. Startled, he leaned back against his forearms, refocusing his gaze on the fire.  
  
The sharp movement didn't go unnoticed by the two teachers sitting behind him. "Alec? Is there something wrong?"  
  
The teen looked for a moment longer before turning to look at his teacher. "It's nothing, Aunt Minerva, I was just lost in thoughts, and I thought I saw something. It was probably just a spark."  
  
The woman nodded with a small smile, and resumed her conversation with Severus that wasn't sure if he should believe the teen.  
  
Harry returned his gaze to the fire and concentrated in trying to find what had startled him. For a while, nothing happened, but then, slowly, an image started to form in the fire. Harry frowned lightly, trying not to move for fear he'd lost the image again. In a few moments, the full face of a man had formed in the fireplace, and it was staring back at him with deep black eyes. Alec could have sworn that he had seen that face before, but right now, he was trying too hard to focus on what was happening instead of thinking about when he had seen that face before.  
  
If he hadn't been so used to weird things happening to him, Harry would have jumped up when the strange image started to speak softly. At first, the voice seemed a bit strange; it wasn't until Derek started to shift a bit around his wrist, that Harry noticed that the face was speaking in parseltongue.  
  
*Well, well, well, what a surprise; I haven't seen a fellow speaker in quite a while. * Harry felt as the large eyes looked at him intently. *What's your name, little one? *  
  
Harry opened his mouth to answer, but then he remembered about the adults sitting behind him. He couldn't talk to the face, much less in parseltongue. Somehow he doubted that the two teachers could see the face; after all, having a strange face sitting in your fireplace was something that wasn't very hard to notice with a simple glance, and he knew that at least Snape was still watching him from time to time.  
  
Alec had been so lost in thought that he didn't notice the face showing the first signs of impatience. *Are you going to answer me, young speaker?*  
  
Harry blinked and shifted a bit. Luckily, he was spared an answer when Derek slithered his head from under his robe and started to hiss softly. Alec tensed, thinking that his teachers would be able to hear the snake, but they were luckily still talking, and the soft hiss went unnoticed.  
  
*My massssster cannot sssspeak in front of the other humansssss. *  
  
The face raised an eyebrow at that, and then looked at the two people still sitting behind Harry. *I ssssee, then we'll have to talk later. I don't usually leave thissss fireplace, but it'ssss been too long ssssince a fellow parselmouth walked through these hallssss and I'm curioussss to know about you. I'll find you tonight. Issss curfew sssstill at ten?"  
  
Harry looked a bit puzzled, but nodded very lightly.  
  
*Very well. I'll ssssee you two hourssss after that. *  
  
Then, in the blink of an eye, the face was gone, and Harry couldn't help but rub his eyes, wondering if he had imagined the whole thing.  
  
"Maybe it's time for you to go to bed, Alec. It's been a long day."  
  
Harry turned around sharply, and saw the two adults gazing down at him in amusement. Blinking, he tried to make out what the woman had been saying. He was still trying to think of a suitable answer when Severus stood up, approached him, and with strong hands, lifted him off the floor.  
  
"Come on, Alec, off to bed with you; I can't have you falling asleep on us."  
  
Minerva joined them, taking in the child's dazed face. "I don't think it would be a very good idea to send him alone, Severus, he seems to be dead on his feet. How about you take him to the common room, and I go talk to Albus about what we discussed?"  
  
Snape nodded in agreement. Dumbledore had already told them all that they should treat Alec as they usually did, no matter what the other students thought of it. At first, the Potions Master hadn't thought it would be very fair, but Dumbledore had made it clear that he would let the student body know that Alec was his grandson and that as such, he had some privileges. In his mind, Snape was grateful for those orders. Now he had an excuse to be nice to the kid he had started to love during the summer, and he had the perfect excuse should Voldemort remark on it.  
  
Taking Alec's hand, the Potions Master escorted his young charge to the Ravenclaw common room, ignoring the confused and startled gazes he was getting from the few students that were hurrying to their own common rooms before curfew.  
  
For a moment, Snape considered leaving the child in front of the common room's entrance, but then, with a mischievous smile, he thought against it. Alec seemed to be really out of it for some reason, and he always enjoyed shocking his students. Turning to the boy standing next to him, he knelt down next him.  
  
"Alec, can you tell me the password?"  
  
The boy looked up at him, a bit confused, his mind still thinking about the strange meeting in the fireplace. He knew he was acting strange, but he didn't seem to be able to stop it. The instant the face disappeared from the fireplace, he had recognized it. He was nearly sure he knew where he had seen that face before, and if he was right, he had just had a very weird chat with a dead founder. He was once again trying to get his mind around the fact that he had been talking with Salazar Slytherin who has been dead for years, when a hand on his shoulder shook him lightly.  
  
"Snap out of it, Alec! I need you to tell me the password, and I'll get you into bed."  
  
Harry blinked again, recognizing Snape's voice coming from somewhere in front of him. He was just focusing on the man, when the professor spoke again.  
  
"What's wrong with you? Do you need to go to the hospital wing?"  
  
Now that got Harry's attention. He snapped his head up and finally focussed on Snape's face. The man in front of him seemed to be mildly irritated but the worry shinning in his eyes was quickly overcoming that irritation.  
  
"I'm sorry, Uncle Severus, I must be more tired than I thought."  
  
Snape visibly refrained himself from making a sarcastic comment while Harry softly spoke the password. Getting back on his feet, Snape gently pushed Harry into the common room, which got completely silent when they saw the feared potions master entering their domains. Anthony immediately walked up to them, looking sternly down at Alec.  
  
"Is there something wrong, Professor?"  
  
Severus smirked at him and drew the small teen closer to him when he felt the boy tense at his side. "Nothing's wrong, Mr. Teheran, I was merely escorting Mr. Dumbledore to his room."  
  
While the other students gapped at him, Severus turned to Harry. "Will you be alright on your own now, Alec?"  
  
The teen nodded, trying to fight down his embarrassment. He was sure Snape was doing it on purpose; well, he wasn't going to let the man play his little games with him. He should have learned by now that he could be just as Slytherin as his professor. In his brightest voice, the teen contently chirped: "I'll be fine, Uncle Sev, thanks for walking me here."  
  
The man immediately slapped him lightly on his behind, knowing he was found out, and then ruffled Alec's head affectionately. "Brat, up to bed with you. I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
Harry nodded lightly, briefly he thought about hugging and kissing the man goodnight, but he refrained himself. After all, he wanted to keep all his limbs intact. Once the man left, all the attention shifted to Harry, who had started to squirm under the intense looks he was getting. Finally, he broke the strained silence by surging. "Stop looking at me that way! He's one of my grandfather's friends, and I spent a lot of time with him this summer. You don't honestly think he's going to act different out of class just because we're back in school?"  
  
The other students nodded reluctantly and turned back to their business while Harry started to walk up the stairs after nodding goodnight to Lan. He had tried to make light matter from the professor's strange behaviour, but he was also confused about it. He would have thought that Snape would keep his distance; after all, his spying duties were already difficult enough without the junior death eaters knowing that he was coddling the Headmaster's grandson. And Alec didn't doubt that the news of what had happened in the common room would be around the school before classes started tomorrow.  
  
Shaking his head, he tried to put those thoughts out of his mind. After all, Severus had been a spy for almost twenty years now, and he probably knew what he was getting himself into. Quickly changing from his clothes to his pyjamas, he got into bed. He didn't know if or when the strange face was going to show up, but he might as well get some sleep before that happened. After all, while he was not tired of his lessons, he had just had a few shocks, and he had the feeling he would need to be rested for what was to come.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and to my beta reader Vinnie and to Leena. 


	9. Meeting at midnight

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

**Web of Lies: Revelations.**

Alec had been sleeping for a while when suddenly he felt something tighten uncomfortably around his wrist. Half asleep, he tried to dislodge the ring that was painfully squeezing his arm until he finally registered the soft hissing coming from it. Opening his eyes slightly, he looked down and saw that Derek was the one hissing around his wrist. Sitting up slightly, the teen focused on the snake, and his sleepy brain finally registered what it was saying.

*It's ten minutes to twelve, Master; He will be here soon. *

His mind immediately cleared up, and he slowly eased out of bed, trying to not make a sound that might alert his companions. After putting a robe over his pyjamas, the teen quietly left the room and quickly walked down the stairs. Luckily, the common room was deserted, and he was able to settle in front of the fireplace without problem. His gaze drifted to the large portrait standing over it. He had the uncomfortable sensation that it was studying him, but the older students had assured him that Lady Ravenclaw hadn't moved in centuries; in fact, one of the oldest debates going around the Ravenclaw house was whether the painting was actually magical or just muggle. Harry didn't doubt that the painting was magical; the way those eyes could look through you without even moving were enough for him.

He had been sitting in the comfortable chair for nearly ten minutes when the fire suddenly light up and the same face from before started to appear between the flames. Standing up, Alec approached the fire and sat down just in front of the now fully formed face.

*

This time, when he saw the features that formed the face, he was sure that he had guessed correctly. This was Salazar Slytherin, or else someone that resembled him greatly. The man looked up at him and a slight smirk formed on his lips.

*A speaker in Ravenclaw, who would have thought. Of course, it could be worse, you could be a Gryffindor. *

Alec remained silent, although the temptation to tell the man that he had once belonged to the house of the Lion was nearly overwhelming. The founder studied him for a few minutes before speaking again. *Now that we're alone, you can answer my question, young speaker, what's your name? *

Alec looked at him intently, trying to decide whether he should tell him the truth or just what he told everybody. Narrowing his eyes, he spoke, chose his words carefully. *You may call me Alec or Alexander. *

The man in the fireplace raised an eyebrow. *So, playing games with me, are you? That's not very smart, although I can understand your reticence. Very well, I will call you Alec, for now. Do you, by chance, know who I am? *

Alec looked at him closely as he answered. *I don't think I'm mistaken if I say you're Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts. *

The boy could swear he saw the look of surprise pass through the face's eyes before he managed to control his emotions again. *I'm surprised that you would be able to guess so easily, young speaker; I don't think there are many pictures of me lying around the castle. *

Harry shrugged lightly. *You certainly made up for the lack of pictures by the statues down in the Chamber. *

Now he was sure that he saw shock in the other man's eyes, and it make him feel quite pleased with himself; he was sure not many people were able to claim that. *You've been down in the Chamber? I didn't think anyone knew where the entrance was; how did you find it? *

Sighing slightly, the teen told what had happened a few years ago in as few words as possible. He wasn't sure if it was safe to tell the man about Voldemort, but he somehow felt it was alright to do so. When he finished, they both stayed silent for a long moment. Finally, Salazar sighed. *It's a pity you had to kill Snazzyrya, but I understand you didn't have much of a choice left. About that Voldemort guy that claims to be my heir, I'm quite sure he isn't. *

Harry looked up surprised at that revelation. *He isn't? But everyone things so; he claims to be your heir, and he is a parselmouth. *

Salazar shrugged lightly. *That hardly means anything, there were several families that possessed that gift; I was merely the best known of them. As for how I'm sure he's not my heir, that would be because my only son died when he was only fifteen. I'm very sure that he didn't have children. *

Harry raised an eyebrow, having difficulties to believe the founder's words. *Maybe you had another kid that you didn't know about? *

Salazar scowled at him. *Contrary to popular believe, I was faithful to my wife and wouldn't have thought of having an affair with anyone else. *

Before Alec had the chance to apologize, a soft voice interrupted them. "I'm glad to hear that, Salazar; I must confess, I had my doubts."

The teen looked up startled at the painting that had uttered the words. For an instant, he wondered if he had fallen asleep, because he was now talking to not only one, but two founders. Salazar's voice assured him he was indeed witnessing the strange reunion. *I always loved you, Rowena; I would have hoped you had more faith in me. *

Harry watched as the woman pushed a stray hair behind her ear. "Things were difficult back then, Sal, you know I had quite a hard time in figuring out which one of you I had to believe. I chose Godric, my brother, and I chose wrong."

Salazar shook his head sadly. *It hardly matters anymore, it's been quite a while, and there's nothing that we can do about it anymore. *

Rowena nodded but frowned in thought. "Maybe not directly, but I'm sure we could help out dealing with that supposed heir of yours; he's damaging your name a great deal with what he is doing. While I've not talked to anyone in centuries, I've always listened to what happens around me, and I know that that man's existence has been slowly destroying Hogwarts from the inside."

Salazar sighed. *You're right. All the fights and rivalries was not what we had in mind when we created the houses. It had gotten out of hand; maybe it's time to intervene, but there's not much we can do. You can't move from your portrait due to that curse that was placed on you, and I can't speak to anyone who is not a parselmouth or you; a fine pair we make. *

Instead of answering, the woman's gaze settled on Harry, who looked nervously up at her. Salazar seemed to interpret her silence and immediately started to object. *You can't be serious, Rowena, he's just a child, even younger than Lucien was; you cannot expect me to teach the young one. *

The woman's soft voice didn't waver as she answered. "I realize that he's very young, Salazar, but can't you sense his power? He could easily learn whatever you want to teach him."

Salazar frowned. *That might be true, but people would notice if he kept disappearing, and I certainly can't train him in plain view. *

Harry watched in fascination as the two argued; he knew he should be annoyed that they were talking about him as if he wasn't there, but he just felt astounded that these two people were considering teaching him. Suddenly, he noticed that the two faces were trained towards him, and he had to fight down a blush, realizing he had been asked something.

*Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. *

Rowena chuckled. "We were just asking for your opinion on this, young one. Would you like to be trained so you could fight against Tom?"

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta reader Vinnie.

I hate to have to say this, but this might be the last update in a while. Lately I have simply found I don't have the time nor the mood to write and I find myself forced to write something to post. Hope you don't get too upset and I promise the fics are going to be finished at some point, I just don't know when.


	10. Back to the Chamber

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

**Web of Lies: Revelations.**

Harry looked at them pensively. The first shock at being asked such a question had diminished, and now he was trying to think logically about it. On one side, he wanted to accept the offer, knowing he would need all the help he could get in order to defeat Voldemort. While his grandfather had said that he would tutor him while he was at school, the old man was just too busy with his duties as headmaster to help him, and Harry hadn't wanted to approach him, worried that he would stress the older wizard even more. On the other hand, could he afford to trust these two? He knew that if he accepted he would have to tell them the truth, for it was too dangerous to keep it from the pair.

A soft voice interrupted his confused musings. "What troubles you, young one?"

Harry snapped his head up and looked at the founder of his new house. Hesitantly, he spoke. "I would gladly accept your training, for I know I'm going to need it before long, but I hold many secrets. Secrets that, if revealed, could put not only myself but also others in danger."

Slytherin shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. *Everyone has secrets, young speaker; if you feel the need to tell us, we'll listen. If you don't, we don't care that much either way since you'll tell us when you feel the time is right.*

Harry shook his head lightly. "I wish it was that easy. I already know that a lot of people are going to be angry at me, even hate me when this comes out. I would not want for you to distrust me when the time comes."

The Lady Ravenclaw looked at him intently. "Why are you doing it, then?"

Harry looked at her sadly. "Because it's safer for me and for my friends and family." With careful words, he continued. "I'm not exactly who I pretend to be."

Salazar looked up, seemingly interested, but Rowena beat him. "Then the headmaster must know since he is pretending to be your grandfather, am I right?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, he knows. Actually, it was mostly his idea."

Rowena was about to ask something else, but Salazar stopped her. *Rowena, dear, if this secret is so important, and I think I've guessed most of it, then it's not really safe to talk about it here. * Turning to Harry, he seriously added, *I would like you to meet me down in the Chamber of Secrets. We'll be able to talk there without interruption. *

The woman frowned. "That's not fair, Salazar, you know I can't move from this portrait."

The man sighed a bit. *Don't worry, Honey, I'll tell you after I've met with our young speaker. After all, I can speak to you when the brats have gone to class.*

Harry was looking at the pair curiously, he hadn't noticed until now that Salazar was still speaking parseltongue and that the woman understood what he said.

"How...?" The pair turned to watch him with questioning expressions. "How can you understand what Sir Slytherin says? I didn't know you were also a parselmouth."

They both laughed at his confused face. "Relax, Child, I'm not a parselmouth. You see, just before my real self died, she cast a link between Salazar's ghost and me. At first, we didn't know what it was for, but through the centuries, the bond has grown, and now we can basically read each other's mind. It's almost as if we share our thoughts without thinking about it. We could have held this conversation in silence, but we've been speaking out of courtesy towards you."

Instead of looking more relaxed, Harry just felt more confused. "You're a ghost?"

Salazar nodded patiently. *Yes, I am, but Godric cursed me. *

Rowena snorted. "That is your own fault; I told you back then that you couldn't take revenge on Godric through those childish pranks you played, you were even worse than Peeves!"

Salazar looked up at her annoyed. *That's insulting, Rowena, I was not as bad as that bloody menace, and even if I had been, I had good reason to try and make Godric's life miserable. *

Rowena was about to reply when she caught Harry yawning. Smiling a bit, she nodded towards the sleepy teen. "I think it's time for you to go to bed, young one. After all, you still have lessons in the morning."

Alec nodded lightly and stood up. Before he could walk away, Salazar stopped him. *Remember to come down to the Chamber right after classes, young speaker. *

Harry was about to nod, when Rowena's upset voice interrupted them. "He has to do his homework!"

Salazar looked up at her amused, but nodded. *Very well, so come down after you've done your homework. No need to get Rowena angry. *

Guessing that was the end of their conversation, the young teen turned around and left the common room. 

Alec's second day had gone by in a haze. He was able to do well in his classes even if he was half asleep in most of them. If Lan, who was constantly at his side, noticed his lack of attention, she didn't say anything about it. Instead, she kept talking excitedly about everything that was happening around them. 

That evening, Alec quickly did his homework, finishing once again before all his classmates. With a glance towards the portrait hanging above the fireplace, the teen left the room silently and quickly made his way towards Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, making sure to use the less transited halls.

Once he stepped into the abandoned bathroom, Alec made his way to the sink that hid the entrance to the Chamber, trying not to alert the annoying ghost of his presence. The way down was just as slimy and eerie as he remembered. He quickly made his way through the dark halls, eager to reach the Chamber as soon as possible. After ten minutes, he finally arrived to the large doors, and with a soft whisper, they opened, allowing him entrance.

The first thing he noticed was that there was no trace of the basilisk. The only thing that remained from his fight was a large patch of dried blood. Looking around, he tried to find a fireplace in which Salazar could appear, but he didn't find anything. 

Fifteen long minutes he stood there, patiently waiting for something to happen. He was about to turn away and return to his common room when something finally happened.

*I apologize for being late*

Turning around sharply, Harry came face to face with a floating white mass. Blinking, he recognised the face that had haunted the fireplace the night before and he couldn't help but look surprised.

*I thought you couldn't leave the fireplaces? *

The ghost smiled down at him and floated until they stood face to face. *I can't inside Hogwarts, but outside the castle, I can do as I wish. After all, Godric only had so much power; he couldn't have done more than that. *

Harry frowned. *Does that mean that this Chamber is not a part of the castle? *

Salazar shrugged. *In a way it is, in a way it isn't. You see, this chamber is an extension of Hogwarts, but it goes all the way towards the lake. Godric's power didn't reach that far, and he didn't know about this, so it's no real surprise that I can go around here as I please.*

Harry nodded in understanding and looked around, a bit uncomfortable at the sudden silence. Finally, moistening his lips nervously, the teen spoke. *You wanted to talk to me?*

Salazar nodded lightly. *Indeed, I did. But first of all, what should I call you? Alec? Or would you prefer Harry?* 

To be continued...

**A/N:** Yes, yes, I know it's taken a while and no, I'm not giving up, but I've been extremely busy with exams and I really needed a break, I'm not sure if when the next update will be but I'll try to get back to a regular schedule, so don't fear. Thanks for all your reviews and special thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie, and to Leena.


	11. Decisions

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.  
  
Web of Lies: Revelations.  
  
Harry shifted nervously, unsure of how to answer. When Salazar had claimed to know what the whole secret was about last night, he hadn't really thought much about it. Now, being directly confronted by the man, he was unsure as to how to reply. Denying it was useless, and he didn't really want to. He had wanted to tell Salazar and Rowena about him last night, so he should just go along with his decision and pray that he had done the right thing.

'Alec will be fine. Harry Potter is missing, and as much as I hate to admit it, I rather like being Alec.'  
  
The man looked down at the teen's bowed head seriously. 'I don't think I completely understand, but I'll trust you with this.'  
  
Harry nodded lightly in thanks, glad that the ghost was not going to force him to explain himself. They stayed silent for a long moment before the ghost turned around. 'Come on, little one, this is no place to talk about serious matter.'   
  
Harry hesitantly followed in the ghosts wake; they slowly made their way around the large statue of Salazar's head and finally reached a very small door concealed behind it. Salazar started speaking in parseltongue, loud enough for Alec to make out the language but just soft enough so he couldn't hear what was being said. To his surprise, the wooden door didn't open, instead, a large patch of stone slid away after the words, granting them entry to a dark room. Looking up at the founder, he was met with a small smirk.  
  
'Surprised, young snake? You didn't think I would hide my personal quarters behind something as simple as a wooden door, did you?'  
  
Harry shook his head, a bit amused at Salazar's proud voice; after having spent a lot of time in Severus' presence that summer, he really should have known that things were never as they seemed with Slytherins. The moment the ghost floated through the opened door, lights flared from within the room. Even if it was no longer dark inside, Harry followed cautiously, not willing to fall into any trap the old founder might have set in his time to prevent intrusion. Luckily, nothing cursed him, and he was able to enter the office without further trouble.  
  
Looking around, he noticed lots of odd things lying around the large room. Some seemed definitely dark, but others just looked strange. Harry felt like he had entered into a dark copy of his grandfather's office, but strangely, it didn't bother him much. Smiling wryly, he thought he probably felt that way because he didn't know what all those things were for. His eyes came to rest to a large form tucked into one of the corners of the office. In the flickering light of candles, he couldn't make out exactly what the form was, but from where he stood, it looked like some kind of large feline, and it was posed to strike. Alec gave a small shudder; he wouldn't want to find himself in front of the big feline if it was alive. The sound of a clearing throat made him turn around to face Salazar, who was floating just above the office chair.  
  
'Take a seat, young serpent, we have much to talk about if you're to start training soon.'  
  
Alec nodded and took a seat just in front of the ghost. He watched as the founder floated pensively from one side of his office to the other and waited patiently for him to speak. Finally, Salazar settled down and put his hands on the table. 'When we founded this school, the others and I wanted to pass on our knowledge to wizard children, but it was not strange for us to take apprentices. We used to pick them from their first or second year and tutored them privately. We did that because in such a large school, we couldn't always teach what we felt was necessary, and we didn't want our vast knowledge to be lost. Sadly, that tradition has been lost through the centuries, but I think I'm just going to put into practice what we did back then.' He stayed silent for a minute and the continued. 'The problem is that the best way to learn how to duel is to keep duelling with someone who is better than you, and as you may have noticed, that would be a bit difficult in my state, so we'll have to get around that.'  
  
Harry nodded, knowing that the ghost was probably right. He had been learning spells all summer, he had even been able to practice some of them, but he would need to learn how to use them in a duel. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Salazar started to speak again. 'There're going to be two parts on your training: physical endurance, which you'll be able to do on your own in here under my direction, of course, and then there's going to be the duelling part. The ghost looked at him intently. How good are you at the mental arts?'   
  
Harry looked at him confused; he didn't even know what the man was talking about. His confusion must have showed clearly on his face because the founder cursed softly under his breath. 'Don't tell me that they don't teach you the mental arts anymore; it was third year required material when we were teachers!'  
  
Alec looked uncomfortable. 'Sorry.'   
  
The founder waved him away. 'Not your fault, but if my idea is to work, we'll have to start working on that first. Rowena is much better at teaching this than I am, so you'll be learning it from her. I want you to study with her every night for at least one hour after dinner.'  
  
Harry frowned lightly. 'But the common room is packed at that hour, everyone will notice.'  
  
Salazar shook his head. 'Don't worry about it, they won't; Rowena will take care of it, understood?'  
  
Alec nodded, still a bit unsure, but willing to take the founder's word of it for now. The ghost smiled a bit, sensing that his charge was a bit reluctant, but let it go; instead, he focused his thoughts on his plans. 'How often do you think you can get away from your roommates without them getting suspicious?'  
  
Harry shrugged lightly. 'I'm not sure, but if I keep doing my homework as quickly as I do now, I probably would have about an hour or two every evening. But soon, someone is going to notice that I keep slipping away. Besides, my grandfather and some of the teachers might expect me to spend some time with them.'  
  
Salazar grumbled a bit but knew it was not really the teen's fault; after all, in a school as large as Hogwarts, it was difficult to do things without someone noticing, especially if you were related to the headmaster, or in this case, if you pretended to be so. It will have to do for right now; anyway, until you master your lessons with Rowena, there's really not much we can do so it will be more than enough time. Salazar looked pensively for a moment and then nodded towards a cupboard placed just next to the large feline. 'Look in that cupboard, young serpent, there should be a few stacks of papers.'  
  
Harry stood up and did as he was told, eyeing the menacing figure warily, seeing now that he was closer that it was a completely black panther. Bending down, he opened the cupboard cautiously and peered inside, seeing that lots of papers had been thrown in there. Salazar's voice came from behind him.  
  
'There should be a stack of papers marked as apprenticeships, pull it out and bring it to the table, please.'  
  
It took him nearly twenty minutes to find the papers Salazar wanted, and he only managed after having to pull out everything, since they had slipped under all the other things. With the papers firmly clasped in his hands, he returned to the table where Salazar was waiting patiently. The ghost gave him an embarrassed smile and motioned him to sit back down. 'Those papers hold the test we usually gave our future apprentices to know what level they were at and in which area they would do best. I realise it's probably very outdated, but try to answer as many questions as you can; it will give me some reference as to what you know.'  
  
Harry frowned but did as he was told, picking up the first of the papers and barely containing a groan when he saw it was a Divination papers. It was going to be a long evening.  
  
To be continued...  
  
A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie.


	12. Worry

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.  
_  
**Web of Lies: Revelations.**  
  
Harry was aware that he had missed dinner and that either his grandfather or his aunt or uncle would call him to demand an explanation. The problem is that he didn't have one; he doubted that it would go over well if he told him that he has spent his whole evening with a thousand year old ghost. Not to mention that he was Salazar Slytherin's ghost, his grandfather would have a fit. Sighing, he approached the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room and entered. An odd silence fell through the room; and Alec raised an eyebrow, a bit uncomfortable at the stares he was getting.  
  
"Er... is there something wrong?"  
  
Anthony looked at him intently. "Where were you? Professor Snape came here to look for you after you missed dinner."  
  
Alec frowned. "Damn."  
  
Then, without another word, he turned around and left the surprised common room behind. It took him a moment to decide where he should head to, and finally, he settled in going to his grandfather. After all, it wouldn't be a good idea for him to be seen too often in the dungeons; people already knew that Professor Snape seemed to like him, there was no need to let more rumours fly. He had barely opened the gargoyle when he heard the door to his grandfather's office open. With a sigh, he climbed up the stairs, and when he arrived on top, he saw that Dumbledore was indeed waiting for him.  
  
The man immediately stood up from behind his desk, and with a few quick strides, he was at Alec's side and he was pulled into a warm hug.  
  
"Where have you been? Are you alright? Why did you miss dinner?"  
  
Alec didn't answer for a while; he just snuggled closer while his mind raced to find a suitable explanation. When the man finally pulled away from him and looked down, Alec had a feeble explanation at best, but it was at least something and he hoped his grandfather would accept it.  
  
"Well?"  
  
Alec sighed and bowed his head. "I didn't mean to worry you, I just wanted to spend some time by myself, and I lost track of time."  
  
Albus nodded, but there was still a worried frown on his face. "Alec, I know this is hard for you, but I would feel better if you didn't disappear like that again."  
  
The teen buried his head in the man's chest, refusing to look up at him. He felt very bad at those words; he didn't want to worry the old man, but he knew he would have to do it again. Only tomorrow he would make sure to make it to dinner. No matter what Salazar said, he couldn't keep worrying the headmaster like that, he was stressed enough as it was.  
  
The headmaster looked pensively at the head buried against his chest; there was something the boy wasn't telling him, he just knows it. All his senses were telling him that, but he didn't feel like confronting the boy; with all the work he had been doing in the past few weeks, he couldn't help but feel that he had neglected the teen again, and he felt he had no right at this time to demand answers from the boy if Alec didn't want to give them. He would watch the teen for now and if he was still worried about him in a few days, they would have a chat.  
  
He was put out of his musings when the door to his office opened. Severus and Minerva entered and stopped when they saw the teen standing in Dumbledore's arms. Harry didn't turn his head to look at them, he was tired, and right now, he just wanted to be left alone. That test he had taken took a lot out of him, and even if he felt pleased that Salazar had been impressed, he was not up to much more at the moment.  
  
Minerva's voice shook him out of his thoughts. "Are you ok, child?"  
  
Harry finally opened his eyes and saw that his two professors had moved to stand in front of him. "I'm fine, just a bit tired. I should go back to the common room, it's nearly curfew."  
  
Dumbledore tightened his arms around the small teen. "I don't think so, Alec, you're staying here tonight. Besides, I want you to eat something before you go to bed."  
  
The teen frowned and looked up at the headmaster. "But, Grandfather..."  
  
Dumbledore gently placed a hand on his lips. "No arguments, consider it your punishment for worrying us."  
  
Harry didn't know how to react to that. On one side, he didn't mind, after all he wasn't particularly fond of returning to the common room after he left in such a way. There were going to be lots of questions, but he would be very happy if he could deal with them in the morning, when his head didn't feel like it would fall off at any given moment. On the other hand, if he stayed here, there would be even more questions for him to answer. He shook his head when Dumbledore let go of him and was about to say something, but Dumbledore passed an arm around his shoulders. It seemed that the time to complain was over as he found himself gently guided to the staircase leading towards Dumbledore's rooms. Of course, Alec thought, it wasn't like he had had a choice in the matter anyway.  
  
The three professors settled down around the table, and Harry took the last seat between Dumbledore and Snape, who had remained oddly silent through the whole conversation. A house elf brought in a tray of food for Harry and some tea for the teachers. Alec looked at the food in front of him in distaste; while he had been hungry while doing the long test, he didn't feel the least bit hungry now, and being under the intense gaze of the three adults was even more unnerving. With bowed head, Alec started to pick at his food, eating bits and pieces but not really ingesting much. Without meaning to, he yawned widely, missing the fond smiles coming from the teachers. He was about to drop the fork from pure exhaustion when a hand took the fork from his fingers. Before he could understand what was going on, the same strong hands picked him up and he was placed on someone's lap.  
  
Looking up, his tired blue eyes met dark amused ones. "Uncle Sev'rus?"  
  
The man chuckled lightly, and suddenly, a fork full of food was placed in front of his mouth. "Eat up."  
  
Harry frowned and tried to take the fork out of the man's grasp, but the slender hand was much stronger than it looked like. Severus' amused chuckle made him stop. "Alec, stop that; if we have to wait for you to eat up everything on that plate on your own we'll be here all night."  
  
Harry pouted. "I'm just not hungry."  
  
Dumbledore shook his head. "We're not starting that again, young man, you're going to eat at least half of that."  
  
Seeing that he had no choice in the matter and that Severus was once again holding the fork right in front of his lips, Harry gave in and opened his mouth to receive the bit of chicken and potatoes that Severus had picked up. Slowly, Alec allowed himself to be fed by the larger man, ending up with his head resting comfortably against his uncle's shoulder.  
  
He had eaten more than half the plate when he finally convinced the adults that he really couldn't eat more. Severus allowed him to slide from his lap, and he was ordered to go change into his pyjamas while the adults gathered everything they had used for the improvised dinner and sent it down to the kitchen.  
  
While brushing his teeth, Harry couldn't help but think how strange the evening had been, and he wasn't only talking about the test. To be fed in that way had been a bit embarrassing, but not as much as he might have expected; it had felt nice. He had felt safe, and cared for, a feeling he was growing quite addicted to and couldn't help but crave. Sighing, he washed his face and combed his hair before leaving the bathroom and going into the living room to wish everyone goodnight.  
  
The three of them were sitting on the couch, peacefully looking at the fireplace while sipping at their drinks. Harry watched them for a long while, letting the warm feeling of comfort envelope him. This was his family, as strange as it might have sounded just a few months ago; these three people had suddenly become the world to him. He knew that everything would change when the truth came out, but he was going to take everything he could now, even if it meant that he was going to be hurt in the future. Without making a sound, he approached the couch and went to sit down between Severus and Minerva, who moved a bit so he could fit.  
  
Barely ten minutes later, the teen was asleep, with his head leaning comfortably against Minerva's side. Severus looked at the pair pensively.  
  
"I wonder what tired him out so much; he was acting strange yesterday too."  
  
Dumbledore looked up and frowned. "What happened yesterday?"  
  
Minerva and Severus both shrugged, there really wasn't much to tell, but they tried to explain what had happened the day before. The problem is that nothing really had happened, only that the teen had been behaving a bit oddly, and that both teachers had the feeling that something had been going on.  
  
Dumbledore stared pensively at the sleeping boy, he had been right in his assessment that there was something going on; the problem is that only Harry seemed to know what it was and right now, he didn't look like he would willingly share his information with them. Shaking his head lightly, he stood up and told his colleagues that it would be better to go to bed and that they would take care of everything in the morning, after all, the one with the answers was dead to the world anyway. Severus picked the teen up and gently went to put him to bed while the older wizard walked with Minerva to her room, making sure everything was ok.  
  
To be continued...  
  
_A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie._


	13. Ghostly messages

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.  
  
Web of Lies: revelations.  
  
Alec had been sleeping peacefully in his bed in the headmaster's quarters when a cold feeling ran through him, startling him awake. At first, he didn't notice anything wrong in his room that could have caused the disturbance. It was still dark, showing there were several hours left till morning. He was about to dismiss the feeling when his gaze fell upon a silvery figure floating on the side of his bed. The light coming from the ghost was very soft, but it was a bit startling to say the least. Looking closer, he recognised the figure as being the Grey Lady, Ravenclaw's ghost. He was about to ask what she was doing in his room, so far from the Ravenclaw's common room, when she spoke. Her voice was very soft, and he had to strain his hearing in order to understand what she was saying.  
  
"I bear a message from Lady Ravenclaw." Harry nodded, relaxing against the headboard. It probably had something to do with his upcoming classes with the portrait. "She has asked me to tell you that before you go to the common room tomorrow evening for your session with her, you should go to the library and find a book called 'Powers of the Mind: a guide to know your inner self.' You will have to read the first chapter before meeting with her."  
  
Alec frowned deeply. He hoped that the book was not in the restricted section of the library. It would be difficult enough to get the book out without arousing suspicions, there was no need to risk the restricted section. For an instant he considered going now, just in case, but he quickly cast that idea aside, he knew this tower was more heavily charmed than any other part of the castle, and he wouldn't put it past his grandfather to put up a monitoring charm around his room. No, pleasing Rowena was not worth the risk of angering the old man. He looked up and saw that the Grey Lady was about to leave.  
  
"Hey! Wait a moment, please!"  
  
The ghost turned around. "Yes?"  
  
"Can you tell Lady Ravenclaw something for me?" After the ghost nodded, he added. "Tell her that I might not be able to access the book, but that I'll try, and that I might not even be able to make it tomorrow. It's Saturday and my grandfather might keep me here with him."  
  
The ghost nodded. "I'll inform the Lady."  
  
And with a very soft swish she disappeared from the room. Harry sank back into his pillows, and he was about to go back to sleep when the door to his room opened. Harry saw light coming from the figure standing in the doorway.  
  
"Alec?"  
  
Harry, knowing that the man had probably heard him, sat up and looked as Severus lighted the lights in his room. The man was dressed in dark robes, which Harry absentmindedly recognised as his Death Eater robes. The tall professor silently moved to the bed in which Harry was sitting and sat down next to him.  
  
"What are you doing awake, Alec? It's barely two in the morning."  
  
Harry rubbed his eyes, his mind racing to find a suitable explanation; after all he couldn't tell his uncle that a ghost had woken him up to give him a message from a portrait. Finally, he settled in for the safest answer, even if it might get him in trouble with the headmaster.  
  
"I had a nightmare; I'm sorry I woke you up."  
  
The tall man gently petted his head, a worried frown on his face. "I wasn't sleeping. Was the nightmare bad? Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
Alec shook his head lightly. "No, it was just a regular nightmare, nothing too bad."  
  
Severus nodded after a moment, and then stood up. "Go back to sleep then, I'll tell Albus to let you sleep in tomorrow."  
  
Harry was about to complain but the man had already doused the lights and walked out of the door. Sighing, the teen relaxed against the pillows and closed his eyes. And he had thought that life as Alec Dumbledore was going to be easy. He wondered if all the other children lived like that, always careful to not let their parents down. Sighing, he put those thought out of his mind and dropped down to sleep; there was no sense in worrying about what morning would bring.  
  
Once he left Alec's room, he went to the living room, knowing that Albus would be waiting for him. He had been called for a Death Eater just after putting Alec to sleep, and not having time to wait for Dumbledore to return, he had left a note in his office and hurriedly made his way outside. Luckily, the meeting hadn't been very important. Voldemort hadn't even been there; he had just left a list of potions he wanted in the hands of Lucius Malfoy and other as soon as possible, and other than that, the professor didn't have to do anything so he was able to return pretty quickly. As expected, Albus was sitting in front of the lit fire, staring pensively into the flames. The old man smiled up at him when he heard the door open.  
  
"I trust everything went well?"  
  
Severus nodded and sank down on the armchair next to Albus'. "Lucius only had to give me a list of potions the Dark Lord wanted, I didn't even see him."  
  
Dumbledore nodded pensively. "Anything strange about the potions he wants?"  
  
Severus shrugged. "Not really, just the regular things."  
  
The old man nodded, somewhat pleased at that news. After all, if Voldemort didn't want anything special meant he was not planning anything too big right now. He was just standing up, ready to go to bed when the younger man spoke again.  
  
"Is Alec still having nightmares?"  
  
Albus frowned lightly. "So now and then, why?"  
  
The younger man shrugged. "I heard him when I arrived, I thought he was talking to someone but when I entered, he was alone and claimed to have had a nightmare."  
  
The old wizard looked pensively. "You think he lied?"  
  
Severus shook his head. "I don't know; he didn't seem to be scared, he even looked fairly calm, but on the other hand, there was no one he could have been talking to, there aren't even portraits in his room."  
  
"Did you hear what he was saying?"  
  
Once again Severus shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Albus. For all I know he really could have had a nightmare. He might be too used to them for the lesser ones to have any effect."  
  
Albus just nodded, even if he wasn't really convinced. "I'm really starting to wonder what on earth is going on with him. He has been behaving strangely."  
  
The Potions Master nodded, even if he wasn't so sure. After all, it only had been two days and all the occurrences so far had been explained. Maybe Albus was being overprotective; then again, he had the right to be. After all, Alec was his grandson, and he knew the headmaster wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to that kid.  
  
"Maybe you should talk to him?"  
  
Albus frowned sadly. "I don't think it would help much, not to mention that tomorrow I need to attend a meeting with some members of the order." Severus frowned, but before he could comment, the older man spoke. "I know, I know, I really should try to make some time for him, but things are being hectic right now."  
  
Severus sighed. "I know, Albus, but if the child is doing something dangerous, someone should try to find out what it is."  
  
The young man knew that with those words he had just given Albus the invitation he needed. Not a moment later, the older man spoke again. "Why don't you take him for the day, Severus? It's Saturday, I'm sure you could find something to amuse him."  
  
Snape scowled. He wouldn't mind taking the boy, but he was a student now, and he surely would want to spend some time with his peers. He had noticed that Alec only really spoke with the Creevy girl, and he didn't think that was very healthy, the boy needed more friends. "Albus, he needs to spend time with his classmates, else he's going to alienate them. He needs to have friends his age."  
  
A sad look entered the old man's eyes. One that Severus wasn't sure how to interpret.  
  
"You're right, but even so I would like you to talk with him for a while. Have him play some chess with you in the morning, and he can rejoin his peers during lunch."  
  
Snape grunted while the headmaster stood up. "All right, we'll see."  
  
The old man nodded and left the room. He went to check on his grandson but luckily found him deeply asleep. Looking around the room, he found that Severus had been right in his assessment that there was nothing Harry could have been talking to. Maybe he had been talking to his snake? But looking around, he didn't see Derek anywhere, and even so, Severus would have heard him hiss, not speak. Shaking his head, the old man made sure the teen was comfortably tucked in and then left the room to catch a few hours of sleep before the meeting. 


	14. A chat with Malfoy

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.  
_  
**Web of Lies: Revelations.  
**  
Alec woke up fairly early the next morning, and, supposing that his grandfather and Snape would still be sleeping, he just went to the kitchen, not sure if he was allowed to return to the common room yet. After the ghost's and Snape's visit, he had been able to fall back into a peaceful rest until about an hour ago when a nightmare had woken him up. Luckily he hadn't disturbed anyone, but he had decided to just get up since there was no sense in risking another unpleasant nightmare.  
  
He was just sipping at his warm cup of tea when the door to the kitchen opened and his grandfather entered, still buttoning up his robes. The old man seemed surprised to see him up already, no doubt Snape had told him about his supposed nightmare. Harry tried to ignore the feelings of guilt for lying to both men but he really didn't think he could tell them the truth.  
  
"You're up early."  
  
Alec nodded lightly and watched as the headmaster served himself a cup of tea from the same batch he had just made.  
  
"Are you feeling alright?"  
  
The teen looked up a bit surprised but then nodded again. "I'm fine, Granddad, but I woke up again and couldn't go back to sleep."  
  
Dumbledore frowned. "Another nightmare?"  
  
Alec didn't even answer that question and just focused on the empty cup in front of him. He saw that Dumbledore was about to ask him another question when Snape entered the kitchen. The teen smiled a bit at the man, trying to hide the relieved feeling that ran through his body. If the headmaster noticed, he didn't mention it, and instead turned to his professor.  
  
"Another early raiser; you both really should rest more now that you have the chance."  
  
Snape glared at him slightly. "That's rich coming from you, Albus."  
  
The old man raised an eyebrow. "I already told you I had a meeting, Severus."  
  
Alec frowned lightly; he had secretly been hoping that he would be allowed to spend the morning with his grandfather. It had been a while since they had been able to just sit down and chat a bit. This time, the old man noticed the expression on the teen's face and stood up to hug the boy from behind.  
  
"I'm sorry, Alec; I know it's been a while since we had the chance to spend some time together."  
  
The teen shook his head and tried to smile up at the old man. "It's ok, Granddad, I know you're very busy."  
  
Dumbledore sighed, but let the matter rest; he couldn't do anything about it anyway. Even so, he promised himself he would make some time for the child during the week. For a moment, he considered telling Alec that, but the fact remained that it might not be possible and it would hurt the boy even more. Seeing that it was getting late, Dumbledore moved from behind Harry after squeezing his shoulders gently and left the kitchen after nodding goodbye to Severus.  
  
Once the headmaster left the room, Alec turned to watch his professor. The man smiled lightly at him, waiting for him to speak.  
  
"Uncle Severus..."  
  
The man nodded to him. "Yes?"  
  
"Am I allowed back to the common room?"  
  
The man shook his head lightly and sipped at his cup of tea. "I haven't seen much of you this past week; I thought you would like to come with me to the dungeons and play a game of chess or brew a potion."  
  
Harry's face cleared instantly, and he smiled brightly. He knew that going with Snape probably would mean that he would be unable to get the book Lady Ravenclaw wanted, but she would have to understand.  
  
The two of them made their way to the dungeons with Harry keeping close to the Potions Master. It was still early, so to Harry's relief they didn't meet any of the Slytherin students.  
  
Once in Severus' room, the man called a house-elf to fetch him some cookies and hot chocolate while Harry set up the game. They played silently for the most part, with the Potions Master asking questions about school from time to time. The time flew by and before Harry noticed, they were heading to the Great Hall for lunch. After biding his professor goodbye, Harry headed to his own seat at the Ravenclaw table. Everyone looked at him intently, making him extremely uncomfortable, but luckily, Lan latched onto him and distracted him with her chatter and her questions.  
  
Lunch flew by quicker than he had expected, and after they finished, Harry left with Lan and two other first years. He didn't know if his uncle had wanted him to go back to the dungeons with him, but he decided that it was time for him to look for that book Rowena had talked about. One of the older students insisted they should go see the library since they hadn't had the chance to do that yet, and Alec just went with them, an amused smile playing on his lips. Once there, Alec quickly parted ways with the other Ravenclaw first years, saying he already knew where everything was and that he would go get one of the books and wait for them at a table. The others seemed to accept it and left to explore the huge library.  
  
On his part, Alec paused for a moment, considering where the book might be. Finally, he reluctantly went to the divination part of the library. Looking through the shelves, he sighed heavily; it didn't seem like it was going to be easy to find the book, and he couldn't even go and ask Madam Pince about it. With a frown, Harry was about to go to another section when his gaze fell on the farthest corner. There were several old, dusty books standing there and to his pleasure he found they talked about the mind. Having located the right section, it was a matter of minutes before he had located the correct book. Using his wandless magic, he changed the covers so the title suggested the book was about potions, and he moved back to the main part of the library. Once there, he settled down with his book and opened it carefully.  
  
He had been absorbed in the first chapter of the book, which just spoke of the different kinds of mental arts, when he felt someone stop besides him. Looking up from his book, he had to bit back a groan when he saw Malfoy standing next to him, an obviously forced smile on his lips.  
  
"Hello there, Kid."  
  
Forcing back the urge to hex the boy, he smiled a bit. "Hello."  
  
His mind kept reminding that if he had been able to be nice to Snape, he could manage to do the same to Malfoy. The other boy cocked his head a bit and tried to force his smile a bit more. "I'm sorry about what happened the other day in the train; my friends and I didn't mean to upset you."  
  
If he wasn't so sure that the other boy wanted something from him, he might have fallen over with shock. Instead of that, he returned his gaze to the book and shook his head lightly. "It wasn't your fault; no need to apologise."  
  
From the corner of his eyes, he saw Malfoy's stance relax a bit and the smile become a bit more natural. "Do you mind if I sit with you?"  
  
Alec shrugged, even if inside he was longing to tell him to go to hell. The other teen took the small gesture as an invitation and plopped down on the seat in front of him. Trying to ignore the Slytherin, Harry went back to his reading, only to be interrupted by the boy's voice.  
  
"You don't seem to have many friends; I would have thought that Dumbledore's grandson would always be surrounded by people."  
  
Alec didn't bother to look up. "I prefer to be on my own, and I don't need many friends as long as the ones I have are true friends."  
  
The Ravenclaw heard the other teen snort. "You would consider the Creevy girl a true friend? She's just a mudblood."  
  
This time Harry didn't raise his head, not because he wanted to ignore the other boy, but because he didn't want him to see the anger radiating from his eyes. Even in his anger, he kept his voice calm and soft; he had been well trained through the last few months. "I don't see what that has to do with being a good friend."  
  
When the blonde teen didn't answer, he finally looked up and locked his bright blue eyes with the other's grey ones. Before he could ask what was going on, the Slytherin sighed as if exasperated.  
  
"Surely your grandfather has told you that mudbloods are inferior to us, that they're just a waste of time and place. We should get rid of them before they weaken us."  
  
For a second, Harry had the urge to give up his facade and curse Malfoy to hell, but he quickly brought himself under control and decided on another course of action. Putting on his sweetest expression, he looked intently to the other teen. "Really? You would really do everything in your power to get rid of them?"  
  
Alec saw the pleased smirk on the other teens face and had to control his own laughter. The Slytherin nodded seriously. "Yes, I would do everything."  
  
Alec grinned happily while inside he was laughing his head off. "That's wonderful! I'll tell granddad that you want to help him kill You-Know-Who; after all, he is the leader of the mudbloods, isn't he?"  
  
Alec's sweet smile changed to a mischievous one as the blonde clenched his teeth. "No, Voldemort fights for the supremacy of pure-bloods."  
  
Alec plastered a confused look on his face. "But why would he do that when he's a mudblood himself? I don't understand."  
  
Harry watched in delight as Draco's face drained of colour and the blonde looked confused for a second before scowling down at him. "That's a lie! Who told you such nonsense?"  
  
Alec blinked, his mind racing. "Granddad told me; he said he taught You- Know-Who when he went to Hogwarts. He said he was really called Tom Riddle and that he had to stay at an orphanage because his mother had died at childbirth, and his father had abandoned them when he found out his mother was a witch."  
  
Harry could see how Draco tightened the hand that had gone to his wand and wondered if the other boy was going to attack him. Deep within a small part of Harry, Harry hoped he would, knowing that Dumbledore would take harsh actions for trying to hurt him. Another side of him kept reminding him that Draco could still change sides, as impossible as it sounded. Luckily, he never found out what would have happened, because just then Professor Snape appeared at their side. Shooting a fleeting glance down to Harry, he focused his attention on his student. "Mr. Malfoy, if you could come with me, please, there's a few matters I need to talk to you and the other prefects about."  
  
Draco unclenched his fist and nodded stiffly at the man. After shooting a last glare at Alec, he left the library. Severus frowned, wondering what that all had been about. Looking down at his protégé, he saw he was once again deep in his book. Sighing, he assumed he could get his answers out of Draco, and with a gentle pat on the younger teen's head he left the large room.  
  
As soon as he was sure that Snape had left, Harry looked up, a smirk firm in place. That had been fun; he just hoped Malfoy would leave him alone from then on, else he would have to do something a bit more... drastic.  
  
With that thought in mind, he stood up, and, after warning Lan that he was leaving, he went up to the common room. It was time for him to start with his lessons with Lady Ravenclaw.  
  
To be continued...  
  
_A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie._


	15. Tiredness

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters_

**Web of Lies: Revelations**

Alec smiled slightly as he looked through the room. It was a very nice, peaceful room, with the walls painted in soft blue and the furniture made of white painted wood. The room was sparsely furnished; there was just a white leather couch in front of a roaring fire and a table with two chairs standing in front of a window. The rug covering the floor was a darker shade of blue, and it reflected the warmth coming from the fire. Every time he was there, Harry could feel peace fill him. A soft voice ran through the room, reminding him that he was there for a reason. As he had often done, Alec moved towards the table and sat down in one of the chairs facing the window. The view was astounding, changing from a sea to a forest depending on the mood he was in, but he didn't pay attention to it this time. Instead, the teen focused on the bright light standing in the middle of the table. The light was beautiful, and the first time he had seen it, he had become enthralled by it. Who would have thought that magic could be so nice to look at?

"Alec! Focus!"

The teen looked up startled and then blushed in embarrassment; it happened every time he was there. He just forgot what Rowena had told him to do and his teacher had to remind him about it. After glancing apologetically towards the fireplace, where a black raven was perched, he returned his attention to the glowing orb. If you looked closely, you could see several threads of light going out of the orb and through the window. What Rowena wanted him to do was to build a shield with his magic that would filter anything that came through the window into his room. That was easier said than done. For two weeks he had been struggling to get the barrier in place, but to no avail. Every time he thought he had it, something would interrupt his concentration and all his work would be for naught.

Placing his hands in front of the glowing orb, he closed his eyes lightly and started to concentrate his will. Under his hands, he could feel the orb shift and expand, all the threads coming together in the middle. Once they were all close enough, he forced the light to envelope the threads lightly, shielding them and protecting them. That was the easy part, and after two weeks, Alec didn't have trouble with it, but now came the tricky part. Carefully, he forced the light towards the window, to create a barrier that would not allow anyone else to enter his mind without his permission.

He was about to attach the light in place when something disturbed him once again, breaking his concentration and roughly ripping him away from his room.

"Alec!"

With a groan, he opened his eyes to see himself sitting in the Ravenclaw common room. Lan was at his side, shaking his shoulder forcefully.

"Alec! Come on, wake up, Sleepy Head, it's time for dinner, and you know Professor Dumbledore told you that if you missed it again he would force you to go up with him and to have dinner in his rooms."

Harry blinked and then glared up at her. He had a dreadful headache now, and he was feeling quite pissed off at the girl. He felt he had nearly done it, there had not been any of the usual interruptions, but Lan had just had to choose that moment to interrupt him. In a strained voice, he spoke to her.

"Go ahead without me; I need to get into another pair of robes."

The girl pouted. "You're no fun, Alec." She seemed to sense he was in a bad mood and shrugged. "Well, don't say I didn't warn you when you get in trouble with the headmaster."

Lan then turned around and joined Michael and Tatiana, two other first years that had befriended the vivacious girl. Once Alec saw the door close after them, he groaned and leaned back against his chair. Looking up, he saw Lady Ravenclaw looking down at him.

"I'm never going to get it."

A soft voice ran through his mind. "Of course you will; you nearly did it this time." The portrait studied him closely; she could tell he was exhausted, her lessons with him were not easy on the teen, and she knew that Salazar's were just as demanding. "Alec, why don't you go to the hospital wing?"

The boy snapped his eyes open, barely conscious that he had closed them. "Why would I do that? I'm fine!"

The portrait regarded him a bit amused. "Several reasons, my boy. You're exhausted; you need to get a good night rest, and I'm sure that nurse of yours can ensure that you get it."

"Salazar..."

The witch cut him. "I will speak to Salazar; you need a break or you will collapse. Besides, you should get something for that headache I'm sure you have."

The teen opened his mouth again. "I don't..."

The portrait continued as if not hearing him. "Besides, I don't think you want to explain to your grandfather why you're missing dinner for the third time this week."

That final reason shut him up quickly. Rowena and Lan were right; Dumbledore would not be pleased. Sighing, he stood up, ready to go up to the hospital wing. After all, a peaceful, silent room would be rather nice. After waiting for the dizzy spell to pass, Alec nodded his goodbyes to the portrait of his house's founder and slowly left the room.

The halls were deserted as everyone was at dinner, so it didn't take him long to reach the infirmary. Once there, he saw that Madam Pomfrey was nowhere in sight, and reasoning she had probably gone to dinner, he moved to one of the beds and laid his pounding head down on a pillow to wait for her.

A hand was shaking him, but he didn't want to open his eyes. His head was still hurting, and he had a feeling that opening his eyes was not going to make things better. Through his tired mind he heard a voice calling his name worriedly, and he finally gave in and opened his eyes only just enough to be able to see who was disturbing his sleep.

Poppy was bowing worriedly over the groggy teen. She had been very surprised when she saw him lying on top of one of her beds. The Harry she had known would never have entered her domains out of his own free will so something had to be really wrong with the teen. Finally, she noticed the teen had opened his eyes a bit.

"Alec? What's wrong? Why are you here?"

The teen stayed silent for a second before whispering an answer. "Headache; do you have something for it, please?"

Madam Pomfrey blinked, not having expected such an answer, but from the lines marring the young face, she could tell his head must be bothering him a lot. Quickly, she left his bedside and went to fetch one of her potions. When she returned, Alec hadn't moved from his place. Quickly she drew her wand and ran a quick check up over him, to see if anything else was wrong.

Founding nothing except tiredness, that was not all that uncommon for the first weeks of school, she gave him the potion. After he had swallowed the whole vial, the woman muttered a few words, and the child felt his clothing change into pyjamas and the covers come over him, tucking him in snugly.

"You might as well stay here for tonight, the potion might take a few minutes to kick in and you will sleep better in here than in the common rooms." Once she was sure he was comfortable, she patted his head gently. "I'm going to warn your grandfather; else he'll overreact when he finds out."

Harry's only answer was to smile slightly at her words, knowing they were probably true. Silently thanking Rowena in his mind, he allowed his eyes to fall closed and he drifted off to sleep.

In her office, the nurse used the floo connection to call the headmaster. The old man was not there, but Minerva had seemingly been waiting for him there, so she was able to answer Poppy's call.

"Poppy? Is there something wrong?"

The woman nodded at her. "Well, not really wrong, but I thought Albus would like to know that Alec is in the infirmary."

Poppy saw the deputy headmistress sit up sprightly. "Has something happened? Is he ok?"

The woman smiled reassuringly. "No, nothing happened. It seems young Alec was suffering from a severe headache and came to find me, but I was in the Great Hall so when I returned, I found him sleeping on one of the beds. I thought it best to keep him in here, just in case, but there shouldn't be further problems, and he should be able to rejoin his peers tomorrow morning after a good rest."

Minerva nodded. "Thank you, Poppy, I will go tell Albus before he gets too worried."

The woman raised an eyebrow, and Minerva quickly explained that when Alec hadn't gone to the Great Hall for dinner, Dumbledore had decided to check on him. Poppy smiled slightly. "You might as well go before he has a panic attack; Merlin knows how protective Albus is of that boy."

Minerva chuckled in agreement and broke the connection. She quickly walked down the stairs and headed towards the Ravenclaw common room. She was there just in time to see Dumbledore come out, followed by a few seventh years. They all looked worried so she quickly approached them.

"Albus!"

The headmaster looked up. "Minerva?"

"You just got a fire-call from Poppy; it seems Alec is in the infirmary."

The old man looked alarmed, and before she was able to explain, he was already walking towards the hospital wing. Rolling her eyes, she turned to the seventh years, who were watching them, torn between worry and amusement. "You can go back to your common room; don't worry about Alec, he's fine. The headmaster is just overreacting."

The young men laughed and bid her goodbye as she headed towards the ward herself. Peeking in, she saw Dumbledore sitting next to Alec's bed, with Poppy speaking with him. Deciding they would probably take care of everything, she went to her own rooms. She would have to talk to Albus in the morning.

_To be continued..._

_A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie._


	16. House rivalry

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters_

**Web of Lies: Revelations**

Alec woke up late the next morning; checking his watch, he saw that it was past ten in the morning. Frowning, he quickly jumped out of bed and was about to rush out when a stern voice stopped him.

"Stop right there, young man."

Alec turned around sharply to face Madam Pomfrey. "But it's late! I need to get to class!"

The woman approached him and sternly motioned towards the bed. "The headmaster has excused you from classes this morning. You are to stay in here until I have made sure that you're alright. Then after you have had your breakfast, you will report to the Headmaster's office."

Sighing, he went back to the bed he had slept in. If his grandfather was expecting him, there was no way he would get out of this. The woman stepped closer to him and waved her wand over his head. After making sure he was alright, she summoned a tray with some breakfast in it and left for her office, reminding the boy that he would have to go to his grandfather before joining his peers in class.

Harry ate breakfast quickly; he was hungry after not eating anything the night before and he was able to finish everything in a few minutes. After his plate was clear, he went to the bathroom and got dressed in the robes someone had left him.

After thanking Madam Pomfrey for her care, which left the witch a bit startled, he left the room and quickly made his way up to Dumbledore's office. He wanted to join his friends as soon as possible; the rumours were going to go wild as it was.

Quickly walking up the stairs, Harry knocked on the door. Dumbledore's voice invited him to walk in.

"You wanted to see me?"

Every time he entered the office, he wasn't sure how he should call the man, so he usually refrained from doing so. If Dumbledore noticed, he didn't mention it. Instead, the old man swiftly stood up and went to him. After checking him over, he gave him a quick hug and made him sit down in one of the guest chairs, with the old wizard taking the one next to him.

"How are you feeling, Alec?"

The teen smiled slightly at the worried frown. "I'm fine, Granddad, I promise. Madam Pomfrey even said so."

A mischievous glint entered the man's eyes. "You mean you actually stayed around and waited for her to tell you that you could leave?"

Alec rolled his eyes and laughed slightly. "Didn't have much of a choice in the matter; she caught me just when I was reaching the door. I swear she has a sixth sense for students who want to escape her ward."

Dumbledore shook his head in amusement, clearly relieved to hear the teen joking with him. "I was surprised to hear that you had gone to the hospital wing on your own, care to explain?"

Harry stayed silent, what was he supposed to tell the man? That a portrait had practically ordered him to go? "I just wasn't feeling well and thought Madam Pomfrey would have something for the headache, but she wasn't there..."

The headmaster nodded, sensing there was more to the story but deciding not to press the matter. The old wizard was about to speak once again when he heard the gargoyle downstairs open almost violently. Raising an eyebrow, he exchanged a puzzled look with Alec and stood up. He had just regained his seat behind his desk when the door banged open and several people trudged in, covered in what seemed to be some kind of purple jelly. Alec blinked and watched as Severus Snape, feared Potions Master of Hogwarts, stomped towards Dumbledore's desk, hair dripping from the sticky substance. After him, with slightly fearful faces, walked his Gryffindor friends followed by Malfoy and Parkinson.

"Albus, I've had enough of this. Not one class goes by without those four getting into a fight; I have given them all detentions more times I care to remember. The other teachers have done the same, but nothing seems to work. I won't take it anymore, I won't accept any of them back into my class unless you can reassure me they will be able to behave themselves and not put all the other students in danger!"

Alec couldn't help but cringe slightly at the deathly whisper the man was using. He was clearly enraged and with good reason. He had heard how the feud between the Gryffindors and Slytherins had escalated that year, but he didn't think it would be enough to affect his uncle in such a manner. Looking towards the headmaster, he saw that he was also looking worried; part of it, Alec guessed, was because of what was happening between the houses, but part was also trained to Severus. The younger man was under a lot of pressure, and for him directly accusing Malfoy of something like this was not going to go over well to his Death Eater companions.

Once the professor was finished with his accusations, the four teens opened their mouths to argue with him, but the headmaster quickly shut them up with a stern look.

"Quiet, you will have your chance to explain yourselves in a minute. I have received many reports about you from the other teachers and while I don't usually interfere with this kind of thing, Professor Snape is right; this has gone too far." Turning to the flustered teacher, Dumbledore smiled gently at him. "Why don't you go to your rooms, Severus, I'm sure you could do with a shower and a warm lunch. You dismissed your class, didn't you?"

Snape nodded, slightly pacified at hearing that the headmaster was finally taking action. "You'll need to cancel all the classes for today; the Potion's Classroom has been completely destroyed, and the house-elves will need a few hours to get it ready again."

Dumbledore looked a bit worried. "Was anyone injured?"

Snape shook his head lightly. "Just a few bumps and bruises; I managed to draw up a shield before the cauldron exploded. I send those hurt to the hospital wing."

At hearing this, Alec looked the man over more carefully, searching for injury. His eyes landed on the man's right shoulder; between the purple goo, he was able to see a bit of blood seeping through the heavy robes. Frowning, he quickly looked to the headmaster, and with a small movement, motioned to the injured shoulder. Dumbledore seemed to catch on quickly for his frown deepened.

"Maybe you should have Madam Pomfrey look at that shoulder of yours, Severus, no need to get it infected." The younger man opened his mouth to protest but Dumbledore had turned to Alec. "Alec, why don't you go with Professor Snape and keep him company; there's no need to stress yourself after yesterday."

Fighting down the urge to point out he was fine, the teen stood up and turned to the other occupants of the room. It was clear that in their rush, they hadn't seen him sitting there. The teenagers looked at him curiously, momentarily forgetting the trouble they were in. Harry just looked at them once, before moving his gaze to Severus who was looking at him startled.

Dumbledore quickly ushered them outside and closed the door firmly after them before turning to the four teenagers.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Severus silently followed Alec to the hospital wing. He hadn't seen the teen when he stormed in and it bothered him. On one side, he was used to noticing everything around him so missing Alec was startling to say the least, but Severus found that the thought that the teen had seen him speak in such a way bothered him even more than not noticing him. He had tried so hard to be nice to the teen, to make him feel comfortable in his presence. He had been the first one he had allowed so close, and he couldn't help but feel that he might have ruined it by being so harsh in there, even if it hadn't been directed to Alec.

Snape was startled out of his thoughts when a hand came to rest on his arm, stopping him. Blinking, he saw they were standing in front of the hospital wing and that he had been about to walk past.

"Uncle Severus? Are you alright?"

Snape looked down at the teen and couldn't help but feel relieved when he saw concern colouring the bright blue eyes instead of the wariness he had expected. Relaxing for the first time since he had entered his classroom that morning, he smiled a bit and shook his head. "I'm fine, Kid. Don't worry about it." Feeling the need to apologise, he quickly forced the words out. "I'm sorry about before, Alec, I wouldn't have spoken that way had I noticed you were there."

The teen cocked his head in wonder. While it was true that he hadn't heard the professor use that particular tone of voice in some time, he had heard much worse coming from him, so it hadn't really affected him. "Why are you apologising? For what I have seen, you had every right to be really angry. Besides, you weren't speaking to me."

Severus smiled a bit, relieved that the teen didn't seem disturbed by the incident. "It doesn't matter, Alec. Let's go inside."

Slightly puzzled, Harry followed the man into the wing.

_To be continued..._

_A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie._


	17. Hospital wing and spending time with Sna...

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters._

_**A/N: A few days ago I was pretty pissed off; all the reviews I kept reading were about the same thing: make your chapters longer. If that's the only thing you've got to say, don't bother reviewing. I have spent about three years writing the way I do and I see no reason to change it. The chapters are short, deal with it. If you don't like it just don't read, it's as easy as that.**_

_**Could I do my chapters longer? Probably, but the only thing that I'm going to say about that is that the second chapter of Take life in your own hands has been lying there half written for months and I don't think I'll finish it anytime soon for the simple reason that it wears on my patience. Would you really prefer a chapter of about ten pages every half a year? Don't think so. About updating more often, to do that I would need more time to write, which at the present time is impossible due to real life.**_

_**Someone said that I either make chapters longer or update more often, actually, I was very tempted for a moment to just drop the whole thing, I can just as easily keep writing at my own pace for my friends. Considering how much I hate when authors stop writing, I won't do that, even Triumvirate, as much as I dislike that fic right now.**_

_**Sorry about the rant but I meant every word of it. Now on to the chapter.**_

**Web of Lies: Revelations**

Lying around on the beds in the hospital wing were several of his former classmates. They seemed to be doing ok, but Madam Pomfrey had probably forced them to lie down just in case something else was wrong. The nurse rushed to them once she saw them enter the large room.

"Are you hurt too, Severus?"

The man scowled. "It's just a scratch, Poppy, but the headmaster insisted."

The woman nodded and turned her gaze towards Harry. Raising an eyebrow, she considered him carefully. "You weren't in that class, were you?"

The teen smiled slightly. "No, Madam Pomfrey, but I was in granddad's office when Uncle Severus came in so Granddad told me to make sure he came to the hospital wing."

The medi-witch couldn't help but laugh at those words. "He asked you to bring Severus here? It's a wonder you got here at all."

The teen couldn't help but laugh at those words while Poppy led them both to a bed standing in one of the corners of the hospital wing. Ordering Severus to sit down on the bed, she went to fetch several potions while the man took his robes and shirt off. Harry frowned at the sight of the wound; it looked deep and blood was still coming out of it. Catching the teen's concerned gaze, the man nodded to him, inviting him to come closer. Once Alec was standing at his side, the man gently ruffled his hair.

"Don't worry, Kid, it's not as bad as it looks."

Before Alec had the chance to answer, Poppy returned with the potions, and without a word, she handed one of them to Snape. Barely glancing at it, he drowned the blue liquid and closed his eyes, feeling the warm prickling of the potion moving through his body and healing his shoulder. The nurse cast a few more spells to make sure everything was as it should, and after checking on Alec again, much to his annoyance, she allowed them to leave.

Severus led the way this time towards the dungeons. Once there, Alec sat comfortably in one of the couches facing the fire while the Potions Master headed to his private rooms to shower. When he returned, with his hair dripping slightly from the shower, he saw that Alec had called for tea. With a grateful smile towards the teen, he sat down and took the hot cup of tea in his hands.

The teen took his own cup, since he had been waiting for the man to return before starting on his own. "How are you feeling?"

The man looked up and smiled slightly. "I'm fine, Kid, don't worry about me. But what about you? I heard you spent the night in the Hospital Wing."

Alec shrugged slightly. "I just had a headache and thought it better to go to Madam Pomfrey before Granddad found out and got on my case."

The Potions Master laughed. "Smart lad."

They stayed in silence for a while, both enjoying the companionable silence that reigned in the room. Severus looked towards the teen, a small contented smile playing on his lips. He could barely believe how much his life had changed in the few short months he had come to know Dumbledore's grandson. The lad had slowly wormed his way into his heart, and he now could barely imagine his life without him in it to give him something to fight for. Yes, Alec Dumbledore was a remarkable young man, and while Severus sometimes still had the feeling there were many secrets surrounding the teen, he loved him more than he had loved anyone in a long time.

"Uncle Severus?"

The man blinked, he had been so lost in thought that he barely noticed the teen had turned around to look at him. "Sorry, Alec, I was just thinking. Is there something wrong?"

The teen shook his head. "No, not really, I was just wondering if you knew what Granddad was going to do with the students."

Severus shrugged slightly. "I don't know, and I don't really care. I meant what I said; they're not setting foot in my classroom until I'm sure they can behave themselves. The fact that Miss Granger herself has gone so far as to involve herself with the petty fights clearly shows that things have gone out of hand."

Harry nodded in agreement but remained otherwise silent. He couldn't help but feel that his disappearance was the main cause for all the fights. Snape, noticing the sad look on the teen's face, frowned thoughtfully. He looked almost guilty, but that didn't make sense; it was certainly not his fault that the children in this school were behaving like a horde of babies without a hint of maturity.

"Alec? What's wrong?"

Snapped out of his sad thoughts, his brain raced to find a suitable explanation. "No, Uncle, nothing's wrong. I was just worried that this would mean more trouble for Granddad; he's already so stressed."

Severus frowned; somehow, he doubted that was what the teen had had in mind, but nevertheless, the kid had a point. Now that he was not so angry anymore, he realised that it had been a bit selfish of him to shove the problems towards the headmaster. With a sigh, he finished drinking his tea and stood up.

"Come on, Alec, I'll take you to your common room, and then I'm going to see what I can do to help your grandfather."

The teen frowned and looked at him intently. "Are you sure, Uncle Severus?"

The man raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly. "Of course I am, I'm sure the headmaster will appreciate my...input."

Harry couldn't help but laugh slightly at the almost evil smile that graced the man's face. He finished his own tea and followed the man outside.

Once Severus had left him safely in the common room, Harry realised it was still fairly early. With a glance towards the Ravenclaw portrait, he decided to use his time and go to the Chamber, where Salazar would probably be. He still had an hour till lunch, and Harry would probably be able to start on that assignment Salazar wanted done for next weekend.

Luckily, he didn't meet anyone on his way down, and once there, he swiftly headed towards Salazar's office. He was a bit startled to see the ghost sitting, well, floating behind his table, surrounded by parchments and several books.

"Salazar?"

The ghost started and turned around sharply. "Alexander Dumbledore, don't do that! You nearly killed me!"

Alec blinked and then raised an eyebrow. "Sorry to break it down to you, Salazar, but you've been dead for about a thousand years."

The ghost turned around, grumbling something under his breath, and started to gather his papers. Alec walked towards the desk and sat down in his usual desk.

"What were you doing, Salazar?"

The ghost looked up sharply and sneered at him, it was obvious he didn't like being interrupted. "That's none of your concern, brat." Before Harry had the chance to apologise, the founder continued. "What are you doing down here anyways, you should be in class."

Alec's frown deepened, and he stood up. "I came to work on that project you ordered me to do, but I see now is not a good time. I'll see you this evening."

Harry was about to leave when he heard a sigh, and the ghost called him back.

"Alec. Come back here."

For a second, it looked like Harry might refuse out of sheer pride, but with a sigh of his own, he turned around and looked at the ghost. "I'm sorry, I didn't mead to intrude."

Slytherin shook his head and motioned to the chair. "There's no need to apologise, you did nothing wrong, and it's certainly not your fault that I'm in a bad mood. I'm sorry for taking it out on you."

Harry nodded, and finally went to sit. Once there, he took out a few pieces of parchment and summoned two books. Normally, he would have chatted a bit with the ghost, but after being yelled at, he didn't think the founder would appreciate it.

Salazar frowned at the nearly pouting teen, but since he had been unfair to him, he decided to let it go and put his attention to a potions book that Alec had brought him a few days ago. While he had heard of the new discoveries from Severus while the man worked on them, there was much he had missed in the long years he had remained excommunicated.

_To be continued..._

_A/N: Thanks for all reviews (those who actualy talked about the fic) and thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie._


	18. Punishment

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters._

_A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, I really enjoyed reading them and I'm a bit sorry for overreacting, I've just had a hell of a year and it finally got to me. Don't worry, I won't stop writing, especially not Web of Lies, I love this fic._

**Web of Lies: Revelations.**

Harry rushed through the halls, lunch had started a few minutes ago, and he knew that his grandfather would get on his case if he didn't attend. Once he reached the door to the Great Hall, he took in a deep breath and walked in. Surprisingly, the other students didn't turn to look at him as he had been expecting. Instead, their focus was centred on a new table where a few students were sullenly eating his or her lunch, trying to ignore the whispers flying through the large room. Harry quickly took his place next to Lan, and the girl turned to talk to him.

"Hey, Alec, do you know what's going on with them?"

Harry sensed as the whole table quieted down to hear his words. The teen shook his head slightly. "I'm not sure; I only know that the headmaster promised Professor Snape to take matters into his own hands when he complained about their behaviour."

While he said that, he motioned towards Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Pansy that were some of the students sitting at the new table. Lan cocked her head curiously. "How do you know that?"

Alec raised an eyebrow but answered nonetheless. "I was in the headmaster's office when Professor Snape stormed in; he was really angry."

Mike, a second year, snorted lightly from his side. "No wonder; I heard they made each other's cauldrons explode. If it hadn't been for the professor's quick actions, several students might have died. While he is a bastard, the old bat luckily knows what he's doing."

Alec frowned at those words, but he reminded himself that a few months ago he would have uttered the same words if not something worse. He really had no right to judge the other students on that point. Surprisingly, Lan frowned to Mike.

"I don't understand why you're all so mean to Professor Snape. Sure, he's stern, but potions is dangerous if not taught properly. He's not worse than McGonagall, and you don't call her any stupid names."

Mike shook his head and smirked. "Not everyone is lucky enough to have Dumbledore's grandson in their class. I've heard he has a soft spot for you, right, Alec?"

Luckily, Harry was spared to answer, when his grandfather stood up. Quickly, everyone shut up to listen to what the old man had to say. Harry frowned lightly at the serious expression coming from the usual kind face, for the first time he has known him, his grandfather was really pissed off at his students.

As if to confirm his thoughts, the headmaster spoke. "It has been enough. I have never been so disappointed in the students of this school as I am now. The constant fights between houses, mainly Gryffindor and Slytherin, are going to stop now or there are going to be serious consequences for all of you. This morning, only the quick action of Professor Snape prevented several deaths. We're in a magic school, and especially the upper years, are constantly handle dangerous kinds of magic, going from volatile potions to human transfiguration. Those are not things that can be played with without serious consequences." The old man looked around, his sharp eyes picking the bowed heads of his students and the few rebellious faces. Turning to the Gryffindors, he looked at them intently. "I have heard you cursing the Slytherins, calling them Death Eaters and supporters of Voldemort." Nearly the whole Hall flinched at that name, but Dumbledore continued unconcerned. "Why do you think you have the right to judge your peers by the standard that everyone has put on them. Don't you think that by telling them that all the time, you're pushing them to join Voldemort, specially the younger students that shouldn't even worry about the war ragging outside these walls. Not to mention, that Death Eaters come from all houses, or did you forget that it was a Gryffindor who betrayed the Potters, condemning them to their death?" Seeing the flushed and guilty faces, Dumbledore turned to the Slytherin table. Most members wore stunned looks on their faces, trying to process the fact that the Headmaster was defending them in public. They soon forgot about that as the old wizard spoke again. "Not that your hatred and prejudice against muggle-borns are any better. When are you going to grow up and look past the things your parents have fed you since you were babies? Muggle-borns are no weaker than pure blood wizards; if it weren't for them we would have died out a long time ago. Only looking in your own class you can clearly see that there are strong and weak pure blood wizards, just like there are strong and weak muggle-borns." Seeing he wasn't driving his point across strongly enough, Dumbledore took in a deep breath. "About fifty years ago, while I taught here as the transfiguration master, there was a brilliant student here. Many said he was the most brilliant student that had passed through Hogwarts since the founders. He was in Slytherin and became a prefect and then Head Boy in his time. He was a half blood and had grown up in a muggle orphanage. His name was Tom Riddle, and later, he became Lord Voldemort." He looked sharply over the whole hall. "One of the most feared wizards of all time is a half-blood, and is trying to kill those from which he comes from, not because he believes that pure-bloods are better, but because he hated the conditions in which he grew up in."

Alec listened in awe as his grandfather spoke on and on, revealing things that until now had been considered a secret by many. Once he finished his lengthy speech, the headmaster gazed at all his students, his eyes briefly focusing on Harry before moving on. "As I'm sure you have noticed, there's a new table in the hall. Any student that is caught fighting, insulting another student for the things I mentioned before, or any other kind of misbehaviour will eat at that table and be moved to the new common room that has been placed on the third floor. Their wands will be confiscated until such a time we are sure they will be able to behave properly, and they will be banned from attending classes until then, as I said it's too dangerous to keep them in class and they will be treated as such."

Deathly silence covered the hall. All teachers were looking sternly down at them, it seemed everyone agreed with the headmaster in this. Harry had to admit it was a harsh punishment, but knew that Dumbledore was right. The only thing that really bothered him was the knowledge that had he been attending school as Harry Potter he would be sitting next to Ron and Hermione, trying to ignore the stares coming from the whole student body.

Once Dumbledore sat back in his chair, the students started to whisper once again, really surprised at how angry the old man had been. They had never seen him this way and it unsettled their own little world. The students from Gryffindor and Slytherin were silent, most thinking on what the old man had said, trying to fight the beliefs that had been implanted in them since birth in light of the words the old wizard had uttered.

Alec was really relieved when lunch finished. While his grandfather had told him he was excused from lessons that day, he decided to go to transfiguration with his peers, knowing that being cooped in the Ravenclaw common room on his own wasn't going to help him right now.

If Aunt Minerva was surprised to see him in class, she didn't show it; she just gave them their work for the lesson and started to help those who were having most difficulty. Almost without thinking, Harry transfigured the small piece of wood into a box, like the professor had asked, and then started to work on his homework. That was one of the things he had taken on early in his training. He was able to complete most of his homework in class, leaving much more time to train with Rowena and Salazar.

_To be continued..._

_A/N: Thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie._


	19. Mom?

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters._

**Web of Lies: Revelations.**

The next morning, Alec received, much to his surprise, a letter. It was delivered by a small grey owl and was written in a neat penmanship that he had never seen before. Curiously, he opened it, aware that several people were looking at him questioningly. Till now, he had not received any letters since his grandfather could call him to his office at any time he needed to tell him something. His eyes quickly scanned the letter, and he had to do a huge effort to not drop the letter in shock. This was something he hadn't been expecting. Quickly, he glanced to Dumbledore, and by the slight twinkle in the man's eyes, he knew that he had known about this. Frowning, he turned to the letter, reading it more carefully.

_Dearest Alec,_

_Uncle Albus tells me you are doing well at Hogwarts. We were very proud to hear you were sorted in Ravenclaw and are happy to know that you've managed to make a few friends. _

_I'm very sorry we parted on such bad terms; we didn't mean to hurt you, Alec, but your father was steadily getting worse, and we thought it better for you to be away in case he passed away. I know you didn't want to go stay with Uncle Albus, but please, believe me when I say that it was for the best and that we only had your best interests in mind. I'm very glad to say that your father is doing much better now, maybe you will be able to spend your Christmas holiday with us, if you want, but I prefer not to make promises I don't know I will be able to keep._

_I hope you are over your anger and that you will reply to this letter; if not, I guess I can understand._

_I hope to hear from you soon,_

_Love,_

_Mom._

_PS: Could you look up the incantation for the invisible script spell? I would ask Uncle Albus, but I've heard he's very busy right now._

Slowly, Alec folded the letter and pushed it into his bag. He guessed that the woman who had written that letter was related to Dumbledore, and that she had written him to help his cover. For a moment, he puzzled over the spell she had asked about; maybe there was a hidden text in the letter? He would have to check once he was alone. And he would have to go speak with the headmaster; he didn't like being put in such situations without knowing about it beforehand.

"Alec?"

The teen looked over to Lan, who was for once sitting in front of him instead of at his side. "Yes?"

"Who was the letter from?"

For a second, Alec debated whether he should answer that question, knowing that, as usual, the attention of the table was centred on him. Finally, deciding that the letter was useless if he didn't say who it was from, he answered. "My mother."

Lan exchanged a curious look with Mike, the second year sitting at her side. "You must be happy to hear from her."

Alec looked at her intently, knowing that he would be questioned from all sides if he didn't stop it now. "Please, drop it. We had a fight; I don't want to talk about it."

Without another word, he stood up and left the Great Hall. Mike frowned and turned to the girl. "Way to go, Lan."

The witch looked at him annoyed. "How was I supposed to know it was a touchy subject?"

The teen rolled his eyes. "Maybe because of the fact that it's nearly Halloween and he hasn't received a letter before?"

She cuffed him on the head and stood up, gathering her own things. "If I hadn't asked, one of you would have, or don't you think that I don't see that everyone immediately shuts up every time I speak to Alec?"

Leaving a flustered table behind, she hurried out the Hall, trying to catch up with the elusive teen, but to no avail. He had once again disappeared.

Harry quickly made his way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. His grandfather would still be at breakfast so there was no sense to go to his office now, so he went to the bathroom to see if he had guessed right and there was a hidden message on the parchment. Once he was there and he had made sure that there was no one around, he put a hand over the parchment and muttered the charm he had read in one of his grandfather's books.

He was relieved to see the words forming in front of him, reassuring him that he was going to get some kind of explanation before going to class.

_Dear Harry,_

_I apologise for sending such a letter without even introducing myself first. While I hope that Uncle Albus has told you about this arrangement, I know him too well to place much faith in that thought. _

_First of all, allow me to introduce myself. I am Amanda Dumbledore and Albus is my uncle-in-law as I am married to his nephew, Chris. We have both been very close to Albus, much closer than anyone in the family, so it was not very surprising when he came to us for help. There are few things that can give you away right now, but Albus' family is not one of them. If something happened to him, we would be warned and had we not known about you things would be revealed. This is why Albus decided to tell us about you. This way, no matter what happens to him, Chris and I will be able to protect you._

_You may wonder about the rest of the family, but don't worry about it. Chris and I deal with dangerous creatures all over the world, and we hardly have any contact with anyone except for Albus. My parents died long ago, as did Chris' mother; the only one left that might reveal things is Aberforth, Chris's father, but he has long since earned the reputation of an eccentric and no one would place much faith in his words. Chris had also a sister, but she lives far away, and it's been a long time since they had any contact with each other._

_As you see, it has all been taken care of. I know it might be overwhelming right now, but don't worry, you don't need to do anything about this besides accept the occasional letter Chris and I will send. As you read in the other letter, Chris has been ill due to a snakebite he got in Australia. Uncle Albus thought that might be the perfect reason for us to send you to live with him. As I said in the letter, we're supposed to be on bad terms; this way you won't have much trouble keeping in touch with us, as no one will expect you to send a reply. Of course, I might as well warn you that you probably will have an argument about this with Uncle Albus, probably in a place were a lot of people can hear you. You know how he is about deceiving others._

_Well, I think this is all you need to know right now; I'm sorry if I shocked you too much. I hope to get to know you once everything is over, maybe even before._

_Take care,_

_Amanda._

To say that Harry was surprised would have been an understatement. Of course, he could understand that Dumbledore had done what he considered best, and this way the charade was much more solid, but nevertheless, he was annoyed. Not because of the letter, more because he hadn't been told what Dumbledore was going to do. Sighing, he folded the parchment, making sure the hidden text had disappeared and headed to class, knowing that he would be distracted for the rest of the day

_To be continued..._

_A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie._


	20. Detention with Snape

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters._

**Web of Lies: Revelations.**

Severus watched with a frown as the Creevey girl once again saved the potion she was brewing with Alec. The teen was completely distracted, trying to add ingredients out of time or stirring the wrong way. For once, he was happy that the girl had some kind of talent for potions else the whole potion would have been completely ruined long before they reached the second step. Finally, when Alec was about to throw a few dragon scales into the potion, which would have ruined the whole thing, Severus stepped in and quickly took his hand in his before Lan had the chance to interfere.

Harry was startled out of his confused thoughts when a strong hand closed around his own. Looking up, he winced as he met his uncle's stern face. The man was not happy with him.

"My office, now."

Sullenly, Alec made his way to the room, ignoring the curious glances that were being thrown his way. Severus continued with the lesson as if the young teen wasn't waiting in his office. Once the period was finished, he watched as the Ravenclaws tidied the room and gave him their finished potions. When Lan went to deliver the potion, he looked at her intently. "Five points to Ravenclaw for managing to keep your partner in check."

The girl looked up at him surprised; even if he wasn't really mean to them, he rarely gave them points. When the students had left the room, Severus closed the door after them and finally went to his office. Alec seemed to be lost in thought, sitting in one of the chairs looking at the table absentmindedly.

"Alexander?"

The teen jumped up at hearing his full name and looked at the man, inwardly flinching at the stern look in the man's eyes. It had been a while since his uncle had uttered his full name, and he knew he was in trouble.

"Yes, Uncle Severus?"

The man sat down behind his desk. "What's wrong? If Miss Creevey hadn't been paying so much attention to you, you would have botched that potion at least seven times."

The teen stared sullenly to the ground; he didn't want to talk about it. "It's nothing."

Snape narrowed his eyes. "Nothing? Don't give me that crap, something is bothering you, and I want to know what it is."

Something snapped inside him, and Alec jumped out of his seat. "It's none of you business!"

He knew he had put his foot into it when the older man's face closed off completely. Before he had the chance to apologise, the man spoke again. "Detention at eight."

Taking a deep breath, knowing he had earned it, Alec only nodded in acceptance and left the room, ignoring the inquisitive eyes that followed him.

Instead of heading to his next class, he went down to the Chamber of Secrets; it was not like him to skip lessons, even if he knew everything they were teaching in there, but right now, he wasn't in the mood, and he probably would end up earning more detentions. Once he got down to the chamber, Salazar was once again working on something. Remembering the cold reception he had received the day before, Harry simply went to sit on one side of the chamber and summoned his books from the ghost's office. Silently, he started to work on his project, trying to figure out how to remove the Dark Mark was everything but easy.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Severus walked to the Great Hall at lunch; Alec's behaviour still bothered him. Without a word, he took the place next to the headmaster. He noticed that Minerva was frowning lightly, speaking in hushed voices with the old man. Knowing that Alec had Transfiguration after Potions, he started to pay attention to what they were saying.

"Are you sure he'll be ok, Albus? Alec isn't here, and he didn't come to transfiguration."

Severus raised an eyebrow, a worried glint starting to shine in his eyes. "He didn't go to class?"

Both teachers looked at him a bit startled, it seemed they hadn't seen him enter. Minerva relaxed when she recognised him while shaking her head lightly. "No, he didn't; I asked the other students, and they said you had asked him to stay behind."

Hearing the implied question, he cocked his head slightly. "He was completely distracted; he nearly blew up his potion seven times, and if it hadn't been for Miss Creevey, it would have been a disaster. I asked him to go to my office when it was obvious he didn't have his mind on the potion. Once the lesson was over, I talked with him briefly, but it didn't go too well."

Dumbledore frowned. "What do you mean?"

Severus shrugged. "I asked what was wrong, he said nothing, of course. When I pressed a bit, he blew up at me and I gave him detention; then he left." Looking at the older wizard, he tried to determine if he knew something. "Do you have an idea what could be wrong? I'm not sure I did the right thing by giving him detention."

Dumbledore placed a hand on his arm reassuringly. "Severus, if you think Alec earned that detention then you shouldn't doubt in giving it out. Just because you like the kid, it doesn't mean you should allow him to misbehave, else he'll end up being a spoiled brat, and we wouldn't want that, would we?"

Minerva gave out a short laugh. "I somehow doubt he would end up being spoiled, Albus, but I agree with you on the matter of the detention. Yet, you didn't answer Severus' other question, do you know what is going on with Alec?"

Sipping on his drink, Albus nodded thoughtfully. "It probably has to do with the letter he received this morning."

Severus frowned. "I didn't notice him receiving a letter; do you know who it was from?"

Albus shrugged a bit. "Probably from my niece; she said she was going to write him soon."

Minerva blinked. "Your niece? You mean, Alec's mother? I would have thought he would be happy to receive word from her, especially when he probably hasn't heard from her in a while."

Dumbledore's frown darkened looking over at the Ravenclaw table where Alec should be sitting. "They aren't exactly on good terms."

Without another word, Dumbledore stood up and left the room, leaving two surprised teachers behind. Severus and Minerva exchanged a glance over the empty seat. "I can't imagine anyone having trouble getting along with Alec, he's such a sweet child."

Remembering the angry retort from a few hours before, Severus shrugged. Personally, he thought that neither Minerva nor him knew Alec as well as they would like to believe, after all, they had only seen the nice part of the child, and while they had heard him argue a few times with Dumbledore, it had never been too bad.

When Alec didn't appear at dinner that evening and Flitwick reported that he had attended neither Charms nor History of Magic, they really started to worry. While Minerva was all for starting to search for him at once, Dumbledore decided to wait till eight. If Alec didn't go to Severus' office for detention that evening, they would start the search. Neither teacher was very happy with that, but seeing the determined glint in the old man's eyes, they didn't argue, thinking that the man was probably pretty sure that the teen was still in the castle. Around seven, Severus stood up from his seat and went to go to his office when the headmaster stopped him.

"Severus."

The younger man turned around lightly. "Yes, Albus?"

Dumbledore looked at him seriously. "When you've finished your detention with Alec, bring him to my office, I think I need to have a chat with him."

Without a word, the wizard nodded and left the room, already thinking on what he should do for Alec's detention. At first, he had thought he would just force him to remake his potion, but after missing the whole day of lessons, something a bit harsher might be in order.

Harry had been working non-stop without much luck; he had even skipped his evening lessons with Rowena to try to figure it out but to no avail. When Salazar had finally noticed him sitting there, he had been fairly upset; he hadn't meant for the kid to think he wasn't welcome down there. The ghost noticed that the teen hadn't his full mind on the matter but when he had tried to talk about it, Alec had just glared at him and continued with his work. Not used to this temperamental teen, the ghost had decided to leave him alone, not even mentioning that he was skipping lunch and dinner on top of his lessons. Finally, at a quarter to eight, Alec sighed and stood up. He knew he would be in trouble for skipping the whole day; his grandfather would probably be pretty angry, and there was no need to get the Potions Master even more cross at him than he probably was. Suddenly feeling a bit depressed, he softly bid Salazar goodbye and left the chamber.

_To be continued..._

_A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie._


	21. The detention

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters._

**Web of Lies: Revelations.**

Alec arrived at his uncle's office five minutes before eight. At first he had wanted to wait till eight before knocking on the door, unwilling to face the man yet, but when he saw several Slytherins approaching, he changed his mind. He didn't know what reaction they had had to Dumbledore's words, but he wasn't willing to find out just yet.

A strong voice ordered him to enter as soon as he knocked, and he didn't hesitate to obey.

Severus watched as the teen closed the door after him, he seemed to be a bit pale, and his hands were trembling a bit, making him frown. Was Alec scared of him? Or was he just tired? Storing those questions for later, the Potions Master stood up as the boy walked closer.

"Why didn't you go to your lessons?"

At first it seemed like the teen would just shrug the question off. The Potion Master was about to press the matter again when the teen sighed. "I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate, I had too many things on my mind; it would have been a waste of time both for me and for everyone else."

Severus frowned; at first he wanted to retort that that was not a good enough reason to skip class, but after remembering just how distracted Alec had been in his own class, he decided to keep quiet; Dumbledore would probably take him to task about that. "You weren't at lunch or dinner either, have you eaten anything today?"

This time Alec shrugged. "I'm not hungry."

Snape frowned, but before he had the chance to press the matter further the teen spoke again. "I'm tired, Uncle, I would like to get this over with."

Pressing his lips together, the man nodded towards a group of cauldrons. "Those need to be cleaned, get on with it."

Inwardly wincing at the cold tone, Alec walked over and started to clean. He had done this more than enough times for his motions to become completely automatic, and his mind started to brood again. Without meaning to, his mind went once again to the matter of the letter. At first he had been angry at Dumbledore for not warning him about it, but then that anger had faded or rather it had changed. How could the old man think that he would ever argue with his supposed parents to the point he didn't want to see them? If he had parents he would love them and cherish them, he would do everything in his power to help them, and if they thought it was best for him to stay elsewhere, he wouldn't complain about it, well, not much. The anger had turned to hurt as the day flew by; couldn't Dumbledore have thought of any other reason that he was with him? In other circumstances he would have been so happy to receive that letter, even if he would have been upset with Dumbledore; he would have enjoyed pretending at least to have parents. He had dreamed about it for a long time, and yet, now that he had the chance, he had been placed in a position that he was supposed to be angry with the pair.

Severus, who had been correcting essays at his desk, looked up from time to time to watch the tense back of the boy cleaning. He had been slightly surprised to see the confident movements from the boy's hands; he hadn't expected him to be so casual about cleaning something up. When he looked up for the fifth time in two hours, he noticed that Alec had been cleaning the same cauldron for about half an hour. Wondering if there was something wrong with it, he stood up. The Potions Master had made sure that the cauldrons were not impossible to clean up so he was a bit surprised that the teen was taking so long. Walking over to the teen, he had to fight back a gasp when he saw the child's raw hands scrubbing furiously at the clean cauldron.

"Alec!"

The teen was forcefully wrenched from his thoughts when strong, gentle hands closed around his wrists, pulling his hands out of the cauldron. The hurt that had been flowing through his mind intensified when he finally noticed how much his hands had started to hurt and tears started to gather in his eyes. Shaking his head slightly, he tried to pull his hands out of the Potions Master's grip to dry the tears, but the man didn't let go of him.

"Sir, please, let go."

Narrowing his eyes at the formal address, Severus tightened his grip a bit and looked him over carefully. Seeing the tears, he gently drew the teen to his arms.

"Alec, what's wrong?"

Pressed against the man's chest, Harry couldn't do anything but shake his head, still fighting his tears. "Nothing's wrong."

Sighing, the Potions Master looked down at the head pressed against his chest. "Of course there's something wrong; you wouldn't have done this to your hands without reason, and you wouldn't look like you were about to start crying any second now." When the teen didn't answer, Severus started to gently rub his back. "Do you want to go to your Grandfather?"

Alec vigorously shook his head; that was about the last thing he wanted right now. Frowning, the older man carried Alec with him until he was sitting in his chair with the teen comfortably settled in his lap. They both stayed silent for a long time, Alec trying to get a hold of his emotions and Severus doing his best to calm him down without words. When he finally felt Harry relax against his shoulder, Severus took a look back at the small hands. They were red and looked raw. Sighing, the man took Alec in his arms and stood up before turning around and placing him back in the chair.

"Stay here, I'm going to get something for your hands and something for you to eat."

When Harry opened his mouth to argue, the man just raised a hand to stop him. "No arguments; you need to eat something and those hands are not going to stay that way, no matter what you say."

Not giving the teen time to answer, Severus turned around and went to the small door that led to his room. He needed to speak with Dumbledore besides doing everything else he had said. After taking a healing salve from his stores and calling a house elf for food, the man went to the fireplace and called the headmaster.

"Severus? Is there something wrong?"

The Potions Master nodded and quickly told the older man everything that had happened. Dumbledore was frowning when he finished. He had known that Alec would be upset, but he simply hadn't had the time to warn the teen. Even so, he couldn't understand such a reaction; he had expected to see Alec in his office, screaming at him or demanding explanations. The fact that the teen didn't want to even see him worried him more than he cared to admit. Finally, sighing, he rubbed his eyes with his right hand.

"Do you mind taking care of him right now, Severus? Give him something to eat, and you can bring him to his room to sleep. I won't try to talk to him if he doesn't want to, but I would feel better to have him close."

Severus nodded in agreement and cut off the communication. When he turned around, he saw the food he had asked for standing on a nearby table. After quickly gathering, it he returned to his office where Alec had curled up on his chair. He looked very small and vulnerable, and Severus' heart went out to him, wondering what had happened to the small, happy child. Silently, the Potions Master put the food on his table and went to kneel in front of the teen. He quickly took care of the hands, wrapping them in a soft bandage after covering them with the salve.

After putting the bandages and the salve away, he went back to Alec and forced him to eat a bit; the teen did so reluctantly, and after eating half of the food Snape was offering, he refused to eat more. Sighing and knowing that he would just upset the teen more if he pressed him, Severus took Alec into his arms and went to the secret entrance that led to the Headmaster's tower. Noticing where they were going, Alec started to struggle.

"Let go, I don't want to go there."

Severus sighed and put the teen down, taking him gently by his shoulders. "Alec, you don't need to see your Grandfather if you don't want to; he promised to stay away until you wanted to see him, but we would all feel better if you stayed here for the night."

Alec rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Why? I'm fine."

Gently taking Harry's hand in one of his', Severus sighed softly. "You're not alright, you're upset about something, and it's so bad that you've skipped the whole day of lessons."

The teen frowned. "I'm sorry about that, I'll make up all the work."

Shaking his head, Severus drew the teen into his arms, thinking of some way to make him understand that they were concerned about him. "Alec, can you please listen to what I'm trying to say? We're worried, I don't like seeing you this sad, and I want to keep you close to me in case you need to talk to me. I would keep you down in the dungeons if I had a room for you there, but since that's not the case, we'll both stay up here. Come on now, you look exhausted, let's get you to bed."

Knowing that further arguments would be useless, Harry followed the man to his room. Snape waited patiently outside until he had changed into his pyjamas and then returned into the room and tucked him in. Closing his eyes tightly, Harry tried to ignore the gentle, comforting touch from the usually cold-hearted man. Once he had tucked the teen in, Severus sat down next to him on the bed.

"Uncle Severus? You don't need to stay."

The man gently started to pet his hair. "Hush, try to get some sleep."

Frowning the teen closed his eyes, soaking the comfort coming from that hand. At first, he thought he wouldn't be able to sleep with the man sitting so close by, but to his surprise, he drifted off within minutes.

To be continued...

A/N: Sorry for all those who thought this was going to be a long chapter, for the first time ever I'm going to answer to all the reviews send to the last chapter. For all those who don't have the patience or don't want to read everything (which I suspect are most of you) please go to the end and read the bits written in italics, there are a few things I would like answers on. And before I forget, thanks to Vinnie for her beta-reading, I appreciate all the work she does for this fic ;)

**Jewls5**: Don't worry, I will, I love it myself so I don't think I'm going to stop anytime soon.

**Hye em yes**: Thanks, and I'll try to update as soon as possible.

**Chips Challenge**: chuckles I couldn't have Harry not go to detention, after all he still has some sense.

**Night-Owl123:** As soon as possible.

**Adenara Yatman**: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.

**Sakurakawaiicherry:** I'm glad you like the fic and I love their interaction just as much as you, Sev makes such a good father figure when he wants to.

**Rachel A. Prongs**: laughs well, it could be worse, he could have chosen not to go to detention, that would have been getting in trouble.

**Mrs Alfred**: Thank you that was a very sweet review. I had never thought my stories were very angsty, but you might have a point anyway. I love to focus on their emotions, it's so much more interesting that way. And I agree that having Harry attacked at every turn can be tiring. About ignoring everyone else, don't worry, I don't think it will affect my fic, but it might prompt something like this I'm doing now, if you want to understand what I'm talking about go farther down, it's explained there.

**Insanechildfanfic:** Thanks you, I'm glad you liked it.

**Lyss33**: I hope you liked the detention, I had fun writing it.

**Starangel2106**: Thanks for the points, I'll make sure to keep them close ;)

**Azntgr01**: I hope I can keep making it good.

**Lady FoxFire**: smirks Albus should think a bit more about doing things like that before jumping them on Harry, but then again, it wouldn't make this so much fun ;)

**Padawan Jan-AQ**: Laughs I'm glad you liked it and I hope you liked the detention scene, Snape wasn't that hard on Harry, was he? (Shhhh, don't tell anyone, but I think he's gone soft ;))

**EriEka127**: I hope the chapter was worth the wait, I certainly loved writing it.

**Insanely procastinating**: I hope you liked the detention scene, I'll update again as soon as possible.

**Cindy Evans**: I agree that twists are good for a fic, and don't worry, this won't be the end of the letter or rather the ones who wrote it.

**Jeanne2**: Not only depressed, but also angry, although I hope you understand better why I think he would become depressed after this chapter.

**Serenity C**: maybe you did, you see, Salazar's response when Harry went down to the chamber unannounced was a bit sharp and it made Harry feel insecure about being allowed to go there when he didn't have lessons. So when he did go there in last chapter he decided to keep quiet rather than interrupt Salazar. The ghost was a bit upset because he hadn't meant to make Alec feel that way, he had just been surprised to see him down there the first time. Hope it makes sense.

**Charmedsisters**: chuckles I'll try to do my best on that, the next few weeks will be rather relaxed so there shouldn't be much trouble updating.

**DxInsider**: Don't worry, at least Snape is going to find out soon, the others I don't know yet. We'll see how it comes out.

**Enb2004**: Thanks, I hope you keep liking it.

**Eleanora**: Well, if anyone was going to notice it would be Snape, wouldn't it? And the less-"nice" Harry thing, I don't know how much I can do that, but I'll try and give him a bit more spunk.

**Aewnaur**: Well, Snape is going to be pretty pissed yes, and you'll see just how much in a few chapters, he's going to be the first one to find out. I'm glad you like the fic.

**Pris**: laughs me? Evil? Naaaaa, well maybe a bit ;) or at least Leena tells me I am, I hope you liked the continuation.

**Nemi Jade**: Hope this reassured you that things will be ok... for now ;)

**Midnightstar**: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it, and Alec is in trouble, yes, but he has good reasons so it's not that bad.

**Dana**: I hope you liked it ;)

**Von**: You're welcome, it was my pleasure. laughs poor you, I hope this placated the suspense.

**Usagi No Megami**: As soon as possible.

**Shadowsylvia**: I'm glad you liked it, as for the updates, I could tell you the same ;) And while I agree that all the acting may be taxing, Harry is probably enjoying it too.

**Sam sam**: I'm glad you like it, I love it too.

**Beauty78900102**: I hope you liked this chapter and don't worry, the next one will be up soon.

**Gaul1**: Hope you enjoyed the detention scene as much as I did.

**Liamslil1**: laughs well, today is a good week for you since I've updated both fics, hope you enjoyed them.

**Silent planet**: Thanks for the review, it was very nice. I'm glad you like the way the characters act, I love it myself. And the whole young Harry thing smiles it always seems to turn out like that, I like it very much myself. I try to keep the fic as much out of standards as possible, it's what makes it fun to write. I don't think we'll be seeing much of the pair, but now that you've mentioned it, I might write a one-shot about them, it could be interesting.

**Kyzara**: Oh, I do understand very well, I'll comment further a bit later, go to the text written in italics.

**Krylancelo**: I'm glad you liked it, hope this one was good too.

**Lady Nicole Malfoy-Potter**: I'll try, I'm glad you liked it.

**ZSlyth:** _First of all, don't worry, I'm not insulted and I'm glad you like the fic. I know what you mean about people reading lots of fics and forgetting what they are about, happens to me all the time, but I don't think that has anything to do with the length of the fics rather than with how often they're updated. I try to keep a regular schedule updating my fics, the problem is that I'm writing a few at the same time and that means spending time writing them all, meaning that I can't just start updating one fic more often because that would mean I wouldn't update the other ones. _

_Lets talk about the length of the chapters, I've come up with I way I think I could please people who want longer chapters that wouldn't influence in my way of writing. That would be simply be done by me writing the chapters just as I do now but updating them two or three at the same time. Of course, that would mean it would take me longer to update because in effect I would be writing several chapters. For those of you who want to comment on this, I'll be putting a poll in my yahoo group to see what you prefer, you can also tell me what to think through reviews._

**NateP**: Chukles I hope you liked the consequences of Harry's actions, about the mom and dad, I don't think it will go further than show, after all I don't want to lose the relationship Harry has with Severus, but don't worry, we'll be seeing more of Amanda and Chris soon.

**Cocopops**: The argument will come up in the next chapter or the other one, don't worry.

**Alexandria Wood**: I'm glad you liked it, and don't worry, it certainly won't take me six months to update :)

**Blip-dragon**: I'm glad you liked it.

**Katherine**: I hope you got my e-mail on that.

**Coconut-ice agent h/h**: you know, you've got a good point there, I'll have to see if I can put such a conversation in there somewhere.

**Aljake**: I'm glad you like it that much, I certainly enjoy writing it.

**Mitchell:** I'm glad you liked it and don't worry, the next one won't take long.

Lets see, now for the review that prompted this whole thing. I'll be citing parts of it so you know what I'm talking about when I answer.

**Nikolai:**

**Somebody told me this was a good read. They're a bloody liar.** Last time I checked, everybody was entitled to have their own opinion, if you don't like it that's fine, but don't insult people for having different opinions; that's just childish.

**There is little characterization. Can you really picture Professor McGonagall saying "Okay" or Snape sounding so insecure as to say "I'm not sure I did the right thing by giving him detention." I can't even picture him saying that about Malfoy (who is his favourite student in canon)**. If you were looking for cannon characters you're certainly in the wrong fic and I've never pretended otherwise, but fanfiction, to my understanding, is not only about making characters do this or do that, I prefer playing with their emotions, and that results in poor cannon characterization which doesn't mean that there is little characterization, it's just different than the cannon one.

**The grammar is off. Way off. I can't even begin to start on that topic or I'll be here until kingdom come**. Firstly, you may take into account that I'm not English, I learned it at school (let me assure you that in Spain the learning of English is horrible) and through reading and writing fanfiction. The comment is petty; because while I know there are mistakes I'm also sure that it's not THAT bad. And if you disagree, why don't you bother correcting it? That would be much more helpful than stating it's bad, at least that way I could learn how to do it correctly, don't you think? Oh, and please, tell me if you're using British grammar or American, while I might not grasp the difference (sorry people, english is english to me, no matter where it comes from, I know there are differences but I don't think I'll ever manage to get them straight) I'm sure people would appreciate knowing.

**The word teen is used in every other sentence to describe Alec who is supposed to be eleven or twelve and therefore not in his "teens" (which is thirTEEN to nineTEEN hence the word).** snorts Oh, sooooo sorry about that (not), as stated before I'm not English, the term teen for me means anyone who is old enough to change from primary school to high school, that would be around twelve years old here. But truthfully, I never gave a thought about writing the word teen and won't stop just because you say so, after all I can't keep calling him boy all the time, and while I enjoy calling him child from time to time it would get tedious if I used that all the time.

**And while I read the whole thing (so that I had a better understanding of the story by the time I reviewed) and therefore am capable of giving a far more in depth review** (In depth? Na, you're just insulting, you didn't need to read the whole thing to say what you did which leads me to another point, why on earth did you read it if you didn't like it to start with? That's just plain stupid and I'll shut up now before I say much more) **there's that niggling feeling that the author doesn't give a damn what you say in the review section because they don't seem to answer any of the questions that the reader asks with their cold "Thanks for all reviews" at the end of every chapter.** _Well here you go, an answer to every review send to my last chapter. Now tell me, how did you feel when you saw the square to your right becoming smaller, thinking that you finally had quite a long chapter, only to see than more than half of it are answers to reviews? And if I add to that that it took me an hour to answer them all? An hour which, in my opinion, would have been better spend as doing other things, such as writing the next chapter. So tell me, do you really want me to answer all reviews? Or should I just answer those that have questions, spoiling further chapters and discriminating against people who don't have questions and just want to give their opinion? I don't really care one way or the other, I only would like to point out that answering reviews can be very tedious, specially for the short ones that just ask to update or say they love it (don't take this the wrong way, that's perfectly fine with me), and that I don't like doing things I don't enjoy in my free time, meaning that knowing myself pretty well I would likely postpone it quite often. If you really want me to answer them... shrugs I can try._

While the whole answering to the reviews was to state a point I would really like to have your answers on the length issue and the review one, hope you keep reading the fic anyway ;)

Hugs, Star Polaris.


	22. Seeking for comfort

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters._

**Web of Lies: Revelations.**

Harry wasn't surprised when he woke up screaming after a nightmare of the night his parents were murdered. He had expected to have nightmares after the taxing day he had had. What upset him even more was that his grandfather hadn't come to comfort him as he usually did.

He had grown so used to the man being there for him that now that he wasn't, he had more trouble dealing with the aftermath of the nightmare. When he finally regained some control of his emotions, he remembered that Snape had told him that Dumbledore wouldn't come unless he wanted him to. For a moment, Alec debated whether he should just try to sleep again, but previous experience told him he wouldn't be able to do so.

Briefly he also considered going to Snape, but he wouldn't be able to tell him the truth so that would be no use. Swallowing his pride and remembering the warmth and comfort that the older man usually offered, Alec got out of bed and put a night robe over his pyjamas.

Silently, the teen left the room and went to the one his grandfather slept in. He wasn't very surprised to see light burning under the door. With a slight hesitation, he pushed the door open and stopped there. Dumbledore was sitting up in bed; he had obviously been sleeping and had been awakened by the teen's screams. The two of them looked at each other intently for a few seconds before the old headmaster opened his arms and this time without hesitation, Harry ran into them.

The tears he had been suppressing before came out, mingling with the emotions he had been suppressing all day, leaving him sobbing his heart out against his grandfather's shoulder. Dumbledore just held him gently, rubbing his back with one of his hands while the other one held him tightly against his chest.

"Hush, Alec, everything is going to be alright."

Harry didn't answer, but instead, he listened to the gentle voice soothing him. Sleep came while the older man continued with his calming words. Seeing that the teen was closing his eyes repeatedly, as if fighting sleep, Albus jostled the child around so he was under his covers, pressed against his side. Alec didn't complain about being tucked in against the old man; instead, he buried his head in the soft beard while one of his hands raised to clutch at Dumbledore's sleeping gown.

"Granddad?"

The man looked down at the head nestled against him while his hand continued his soothing movements. "Yes, Child?"

"I'm still angry at you."

"Hush, we'll talk about it tomorrow."

Harry blinked up tiredly. "Promise?"

Dumbledore hugged him closer and nodded. "Yes, I promise."

Closing his eyes and getting more comfortable, Alec nodded lightly. "Ok."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Severus woke up around three in the morning; he had had a restless night, and he had already woken up several times. Not knowing why he was feeling so unsettled, he got out of bed, knowing that if he tried to go to sleep again he would only wake up a few minutes later. Sighing, he went to sit in the chair placed in front of the fireplace and summoned a house-elf. The small being brought him some tea that would hopefully help him to calm down. Once he had drained the cup, he was no closer to feeling calm and decided to go check on the young wizard. He was worried about him; up until today the child had been pretty regular in his behaviour. He knew that he had problems but he had always been able to talk them out with the Headmaster. Now the child even refused to see him; that didn't bode well.

Sighing, he went to the child's room only to find it empty. Seeing the rumpled sheets, he guessed Alec had had one of his infamous nightmares, which wasn't all that surprising since he seemed to have had a stressing day. What worried him was the fact that he wasn't in his room. After a moment of hesitation he went to look in Albus' room. He knew Alec usually went to the old man when he had nightmares or rather, that Albus went to him, but he didn't know if the teen would get over his anger and seek out help this time.

Severus was slightly reassured when he saw light shinning from the headmaster's room but just to make sure, he pushed the door open. The sight that greeted him made him smile. The teen was seemingly deeply asleep curled up against Dumbledore's larger frame. The old man looked up when he felt someone staring at him.

"Severus."

The younger wizard stepped silently into the room and spoke in hushed tones. "I didn't find Alec in his room when I went to check on him, I just wanted to make sure he was here with you."

Dumbledore smiled slightly up at him while he continued to stroke the teen's hair. "He had a nightmare and needed some comfort."

Severus nodded in understanding. "I guessed as much." After a moment's hesitation he continued. "I'm surprised he came to you; he seemed pretty angry at you this evening."

The old headmaster frowned a bit but nodded in agreement. "Yes, I know, but I guess he has become used to have me around after a nightmare. I didn't want to intrude so I didn't go to his room and rather, waited to see what he would do. I was a bit surprised when he came."

Snape nodded. "I know how you feel; he usually seems very independent." When Dumbledore didn't react to his comment he steered the conversation to something he had been wondering about. "Do you know why he's so angry at you? He literally refused to see you this evening, and I nearly had to drag him up here."

Dumbledore frowned and looked at the teen sleeping against him. "Truthfully, I have no idea." At the younger man's disbelieving glance he smiled a bit. "I know it has something to do with his mother's letter, but I don't know why he's so angry about it, or rather, why he's so angry with me about it."

While keeping a serene face, Albus winced at the lies he was feeding his younger colleague. While he didn't know why Alec was that angry at him, he understood the teen had the right to be pretty pissed at him for the stunt he had pulled about his niece suddenly being the boy's mother. Yet he had never expected such extreme reaction from the young teen.

Seeing that the older man was lost in thought and that he probably should be sleeping instead of chatting with him, Snape bided him goodnight and went to his own room, wondering if he would be able to sleep now.

Alec woke up surrounded by warm blankets, one arm tightly wrapped against his back, and his head leaning comfortable against someone's shoulder. Blinking, his sleepy brain registered that he was sleeping next to someone. Slowly he started remembering what had happened the day before, including the nightmare he had had and how Dumbledore had comforted him. Finally fully opening his eyes he saw the white beard that belonged to the man he had come to love like family. That thought finally led him to a frightening realisation. He had been angry at Dumbledore for many reasons but one of them had been because he didn't think he would ever be angry enough at anyone he considered family to shut them out. But now he finally realised that that was exactly what he had been about to do. Last night he had refused to see Dumbledore and only Merlin knew how much longer that might have gone on had he not had that nightmare.

After reaching that devastating realisation, Alec couldn't help but start to cry softly. Had he started to take Dumbledore's affection so much for granted that he now dared to act like a spoiled brat? He himself was hiding a lot of information from Dumbledore; had he the right to be angry with the old man doing the same? Suddenly he was pulled out of his musings when he felt a hand start to pet his hair.

"Alec? What's wrong? Did you have another nightmare?"

The teen shook his head and moved so he could look into concerned eyes. "No, I just realised that I had no right to be angry at you."

The headmaster frowned, if he had been confused before, it was even worse now. "How about we have breakfast and you explain everything, because I don't understand."

Alec nodded and after tightening his arms around the man slightly and drying his tears, he sat up. Dumbledore followed him, ruffling his hair slightly before getting out of the large bed.

Harry left the man's room with a small smile on his lips. It was good to know that Dumbledore was willing to wait for an explanation before judging him.

In the hall he met Snape. The man was dressed in his usual black robes and stopped to look at him intently.

"Good morning."

The teen blushed a bit, remembering his behaviour the day before. "Good morning, Uncle Severus. I'm very sorry about what I did yesterday, I shouldn't have shouted at you and skipped all my lessons."

The younger man nodded lightly. "Alright, Alec, apology accepted."

Harry nodded in acceptance, knowing instinctively that it would take a bit more for the man to return to his usual behaviour. Sighing slightly he walked pass the teacher and entered his own room.

To be continued...

_A/N: Thanks all of you for your wonderful reviews, they helped quite a lot. As you see I'll keep the length of the chapters as they are, mainly because everyone had a different opinion (no surprise there). As most of you probably know, I have a yahoo group where my fics are posted at the same time as on From now on, if anyone wants any questions or reviews answered, please, send them there. Any questions send to will be viewed as rhetorical._

_There's another matter I wanted to talk about. This fic started out as a prequel to Dangers in the Past, it was meant to be a pretty short fic that would just explain the close relationship between Albus and Harry. As many of you have noticed it has grown much longer than expected and has become a story on its own, one that doesn't really fit with Dangers anymore. There're several reasons to that happening, me becoming obsessed with Severus as a father figure being one of the main ones. There's also the fact that I can't work well with Sirius anymore, as I'm sure you've noticed, he has barely made an appearance since this fic started. I hope you won't be disappointed by this turn of events, while I may be announcing it now, I made that decision quite a while ago, I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't change my mind before officially announcing it._

_Anyway, hope you keep enjoying this, hugs to all,_

_Star Polaris. (and yes, it's ok to call me Star if you want)_


	23. Shocks

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

Alec joined Dumbledore in the man's living room after getting dressed. He was grateful that it was Saturday, this way they would have the time to talk everything out. At least, he hoped the man wouldn't have anything else to do. But it didn't seem like that, as the headmaster was dressed in comfortable robes and sitting calmly at the table while reading the Daily Prophet. He didn't seem in a hurry so Alec relaxed a bit before sitting in front of the old man.

Albus smiled up at the teen when he joined him. Severus had asked if he wanted him to stay with them, but he had reassured the younger man that they would be fine. Even so, he had promised to send Alec his way after lunch; he had things to do, and Harry seemed to have a few issues with Snape too.

They had breakfast in silence, seemingly unwilling to break the peace that had settled between them. Finally, after they couldn't procrastinate anymore, Dumbledore led the teen to the couch and settled him there, with a hot cup of tea, while he sat back into one of the armchairs.

After taking a long sip from his tea, the old man decided to start the discussion, knowing that Alec wouldn't start. "I believe I owe you an apology. I should have warned you about Amanda and Chris, but I never seemed to find the right moment to do so. In any case, it wasn't my intention to hurt you with it."

Looking at his grandfather intently, Harry saw that while the man was sorry about not warning him, he didn't understand why he had taken it so hard. Taking a deep breath, he tried to find the words to explain what he had felt. "It's not that; I mean, yes, I was angry that you didn't warn me, but I know that you're very stressed and that we've barely had the time to sit down and talk. It's not like you could have told me something like this in a few minutes. Besides, Amanda explained it pretty well, she seemed to know you wouldn't tell me."

Dumbledore shook his head slightly, amused at how much his niece seemed to know him, but he didn't say anything, allowing the boy to explain.

"I just got angry because you made me out to be a spoiled brat! If I had ever had parents, I would never have argued with them over such thing, I would never tell them I didn't want to see them or get angry to the point in which I didn't want to know anything about them." Then, in a much more subdued voice, he added: "Or I thought I wouldn't."

While Alec looked down sadly, losing himself in dark thoughts, Albus looked at the boy with a frown. He realised that he hadn't given this as much thought as he should have. He should have known that the matter of parents was a sore point with the boy; he never would have thought he would take it so hard. Softly, he sat up to try and right the damage he seemed to have done.

"Alec." When the teen didn't look up, he gently put a finger under his chin and lifted his head so they were looking each other in the eye. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean anything by it. I just needed a way to not only justify your stay with me but also to explain why you hadn't been in contact with your parents."

The teen pouted a bit at him, the hurt fading with those words. "There wasn't a need until now."

The old headmaster shook his head. "Actually, it was very dangerous of me to not do something like this before. If something happened to me..."

He wasn't allowed to continue as Alec jumped out of his seat. "Why are you suddenly so worried about something happening to you? Has something happened?"

Hearing the anxiousness in the boy's voice, the older wizard gently pushed him back into his chair. "No, Alec, nothing has happened." Seeing the doubt in his grandson's eyes, he continued a bit hesitantly. "I promise nothing has happened, but I have a bad feeling, and I prefer to make sure you will be ok should something happen to me. I know you don't like to think about this, but with Harry Potter gone, I am really one of the only things standing between Voldemort and the wizarding world. Severus has told me he is planning something, and we both think he might be planning to attack me."

Harry remained quiet after those words, they were hardly comforting but he knew that arguing with the man would lead him nowhere. For the first time since term had started, Alec managed to spend the whole morning with his grandfather, chatting about everything that had happened. They agreed that Harry would be able to meet Amanda and Chris during Christmas to fake a reconciliation between them while he got to know his supposed parents. They had lunch together in the headmaster's office, but sadly, after that, Dumbledore had to leave. The teen went down to the Potions Master's office as he had been told to and spent yet another few hours talking to the man, trying to rebuild the little gap that had come into their relationship because of his outburst.

Things went normally for nearly a month after that. Alec attended classes, happy to see that people were loosing interest in his comings and goings. After doing his homework, he practiced with either Rowena in the mental arts or with Salazar down in the Chamber, where he was taught ancient charms and curses that had been lost through time.

The peace and quiet that had surrounded the castle and its inhabitants was broken one day when a battered auror stepped inside the Great Hall during lunch and hurriedly approached the teacher's table. Dumbledore was away at a meeting with the school governors so McGonagall and Snape both stood up and looked at him intently, a feeling of dread starting to flow through the room.

The auror was very pale as he started to speak. "Professors, the governors meeting has been attacked by Death Eaters. I'm afraid Headmaster Dumbledore has been heavily injured."

The room was dead silent at those words. Alec felt himself pale at the man's words, barely able to believe what he was hearing. In a haze, he heard McGonagall start giving orders around him and he stood up with the other students that were being pushed along by the perfects to their common rooms. Once out of the Great Hall, Harry knew that he wouldn't be able to stand going to the common rooms with all the frightened teenagers, so without a second thought, he silently melted into one of the hidden corridors and silently made his way to the only place he knew he would be left alone to deal with the terrible news.

While making his way down to the Chamber of Secrets, Harry couldn't help but think about the man he had just seen this morning, and a terrible fear that he would never be able to see him again encompassed him.

The only person that had ever taken care of him and that knew about his secret was injured, maybe even dead by now; what was he going to do?

When he reached the Chamber, Salazar was already waiting for him, a grave expression on his ghostly face.

"Alec."

The teen curled in a ball on the floor and tried to stop his panicked trembling. The cold hand of the ghost ran through his hair, in a way that would have been more comforting if the hand had been warm. Even so, Alec tried to draw as much comfort as possible from that hand, and took deep breaths to calm his racing heart.

That'ssss it, Alec, breathe. You need to calm down a bit.

The ghost's soothing voice helped him to calm down and about half an hour later, he felt enough in control to sit down against the stonewall of the Chamber.

Looking up, he saw Salazar hovering concernedly over him. I heard what happened; everyone seems to be in a panic.

Harry nodded and lowered his head on his knees, the urge to cry was getting stronger, but he couldn't allow himself to do so, not now anyway. Come on, Alec, let'sssss go to my office, it looksssss like you might need to have sssomething warm to drink.

Reluctantly, the teen stood up on trembling legs and followed the ghost. Once there, he was ordered to conjure a tea set while Salazar rummaged through his drawers. The ghost came out with a potion, and he ordered Harry to put some in his tea. Recognising the calming potion, Harry did as ordered and started to sip on the hot tea.

Salazar watched as the potion took effect and the teen relaxed into the chair. Looking up, Harry was finally able to focus on the ghost.

Ssssssorry about that.

The man raised an eyebrow but waved the apology away. No need to apologissse, it was a ssshock to everyone, no one ssseemed to know anything was going to happen so sssoon. The ghost floated around the room, mimicking the pacing walk mortals liked to do when nervous. The whole castle is in an uproar, the teachers are trying to calm the students, but don't seem to be having much luck with it. McGonagall and Snape have left the castle, probably gone to St. Mungo's. They will probably want to talk to you as soon as they're back.

Alec nodded, but he didn't move from his place, unwilling to face the outer world. Seeing this, Salazar sighed and then nodded towards some books. If you insist on staying here, you might as well help me.

Alec stood up and moved to the books Salazar had been studying for the last month, and he was finally allowed to step close enough to see that they were mostly on counter courses. Looking up, his gaze questioned the ghost and the man, sensing the teen wouldn't ask his question out loud, answered the unspoken question.

I've been trying to reverse the curse Gryffindor put on me. I finally have found the right charm, but even if I have kept a few of my powers, I have not been able to perform it. Maybe you could try?

Sensing the hope in the ghost's words, Harry looked at the open book and read through the complex charm. Once finished he understood why no one had been able to help the founder, since it seemed only a parselmouth able to do wandless magic would be able to reverse the curse.

Shrugging, the teen read through it again and then moved to the larger room, knowing they would need the space. Salazar watched as Harry prepared himself and hoped it would work; he was tired of being in seclusion.

To be continued...


	24. Realisations

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters._

_Web of Lies: Revelations._

As soon as the students and teachers had been mobilized, Minerva and Severus rushed out of the castle, and without a word, they apparated to St. Mungo's, where the auror had said the governors and Headmaster had been brought. Both professors were able to rush through the crowd and got ahold of one of the doctors who kindly led them to Dumbledore's room. Once there, they were forced to wait outside since the mediwizards were still treating the headmaster. Nearly three hours later, and with their nerves on edge, the head mediwizard finally came out and approached them.

Both Hogwarts' professors stood up and watched the grave face. "Professors, I'm afraid there's not much we can do right now. We've stabilized him for the moment, but he has taken a lot of curses, we don't know if he'll make it."

Both teachers became even paler, and Minerva sank back into her seat, trembling lightly at the earth shattering news. The doctor, noticing their distress, spoke again softly, unwilling to bother them in their grief but needing to say this.

"I need you to contact any relatives of his that might want to see him in case he doesn't make it."

Those words had not the expected reaction. The mediwizard had been expecting a nod of consent or something like that, but not the nearly violent reaction that he got. Minerva jumped on her feet and Snape started to curse.

"How could we have forgotten about Alec!?"

Sharing a look, Snape turned around and tore down the hall, knowing he needed to get back to the castle as soon as possible and make sure Alec was alright.

Minerva sighed and shook her head. Turning to the doctor, she asked if there was any way to get messages across knowing she would need to warn not only Dumbledore's relatives, but also the Order.

When Severus returned to the castle, it was completely silent; the students were obviously still in their common rooms, and the professors were probably in the staff room waiting for news. The Slytherin head of house quickly made his way to the Ravenclaw's common room. Instead of the usually studious atmosphere, the students were just sitting around, some of them crying silently while most were just staring ahead, trying to deal with what had happened. Everyone stood up when he entered; fear clearly in their eyes when they saw the Potions Professor instead of their head of house.

The dark haired man looked around with a frown. "Where's Alexander?"

Anthony frowned. "We thought he had gone with one of the professors; we haven't seen him here."

Snape cursed softly. He somehow doubted the teen had gone with the professors, but nevertheless, he left the common room and headed down to the staffroom. As he expected, all teachers were there, speaking softly among themselves. As in the Ravenclaw common room, everyone looked up as he entered. Before anyone could question him, he spoke. "Has anyone seen Alexander?"

Flitwick frowned. "I saw him leave the Hall with the other students; he's probably in the common room."

Snape scowled at him. "Don't you think I didn't think of that? He's not there."

Most teachers stood up, ready to search the castle for the missing student. Madam Pomfrey was warned in case she was needed, and the teachers spread out. Snape quickly made his way to the Headmaster's quarters, knowing that Alec knew the password and might have gone up there.

After looking into all the rooms and making sure Alec was not in any of them, Severus stopped for a moment, thinking on where the young teen could have gone. He was aware that Alec had probably been distressed, so he might want to look for a comforting place. There were only two places he could think of, one was Minerva's rooms, and the other his own chambers. Quickly walking down the stairs, he met with Professor Sinistra, that was about to go up the Astronomy tower and stopped her.

"Go check Minerva's quarters, he might have gone there; I think he had the password."

He saw the woman nod and change directions before he went down to the dungeons. Looking through his rooms, he felt disappointed when he didn't see the young teen anywhere. He was about to leave his chambers and look through the dungeons when he came face to face with a ghost. While used to the other ghosts roaming the castle, Snape couldn't help but step back at the sight of the unknown ghost. Both ghost and teacher looked at each other carefully, and finally, the transparent being broke the uncomfortable silence.

"It's a pleasure to finally be able to meet you, Severus Snape."

The potions master narrowed his eyes. The face was strangely familiar even if he was sure he had never met the ghost. "Who are you? And what are you doing in my quarters?"

The ghost smirked and floated until he was hovering over the couch. "My name is Salazar Slytherin." The ghost ignored the sharp intake of breath coming from the head of his house. "And I'm here to talk to you about Alec Dumbledore."

If the first part hadn't gotten Snape's attention, the second part most certainly did. The dark Potions Master moved to seat in the couch opposite of the one Salazar was hovering over.

"Do you know where he is? Is he alright?"

The ghost nodded. "He's alright, he's sleeping right now. He spent a lot of his magical power breaking the curse that rested upon me, but don't worry, he's a very strong lad, and he'll be fine in no time. At least, physically."

Snape frowned. "What do you mean? I know the news of Dumbledore's injuries will upset him, they are very close, but he still doesn't know how bad it is."

The ghost sighed and considered the man very carefully, he knew he needed to speak with him, to tell him the truth, but knowing the man as he did know him, he knew he would over-react. Well, better having him freak out right now than in front of Harry.

"He doesn't need to know how bad it is; Alec tends to think the worst of everything that happens."

The younger man nodded slowly, he had never acknowledged it, but he knew the ghost was right. "I need to get to him."

The ghost shook his head, looking him seriously. "Not yet, we need to talk first. You could harm Alec very much, and I would prefer to avoid it."

"I would never harm Alec!"

The founder didn't respond to his outraged cry; instead he continued, calmly floating over a couch. "As you said, Alec is very close to Albus, but it's not for the reasons you might think. You see, the two of them have been keeping a lot of secrets from everyone."

Rubbing his face, Snape sat down on his armchair. "Albus always keeps secrets, there's nothing new in that."

The ghost looked amused. "I'm aware of that, but if you found out about this one in front of Alec, you would hurt him, and I won't stand for that. So, even if it's against the Headmaster's and Alec's wishes, I'm going to tell you now to avoid a disaster later on."

Severus looked warily up at the founder of his house. "You're starting to scare me. What is so horrible about Alec that you think it would cause me to harm him?"

Taking a deep breath, well, as much as was possible for a ghost to do so, Salazar started to speak, carefully choosing his words. "Albus and Alec aren't related, in fact, until early this summer, Alexander Dumbledore didn't even exist."

The frown on the Potions Master face started to deepen, trying to put the clues the ghost was giving him together. "Why would they tell everyone that they are related if they aren't?"

The ghost answered promptly. "So Alec was protected; you see, many people want him dead, and after his former protection became unusable, the headmaster had to think of something else. Alec was the result."

Slowly the words started to piece together in the young man's mind. Someone who needed protection badly enough to go along with one of the Headmaster's crazy plans. A child that was in danger to be killed.

Salazar saw the man's expression begin to darken, and he knew that he only needed a small push to realise the truth. He wasn't sure if it would be a good thing, but he had already said too much to back away now. "One of the curses that laid on me was that I could only speak in Parseltongue, so it was just normal for a parselmouth to be able to break it."

Suddenly the man's head snapped up, black eyes shinning in rage. "Potter!"

_To be continued..._

_A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to Vinnie for beta reading this._


	25. Rage

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters._

**Web of Lies: Revelations.**

Salazar watched silently as the man raged. He hadn't really believed Alec the time he had told him his professor would take it bad, but now he realised the teen had been right. The younger wizard was stalking around his room, cursing Potter and insulting everything he had ever known about the boy. Listening to the man, Salazar started to frown. Spoiled? He had spent enough time with Alec to know that he wasn't spoiled in the least, in fact, Rowena had showed him many of the memories from his childhood, and he didn't think there was anyone less spoiled than Harry. Arrogant? How could he be arrogant if the boy lacked complete self-confidence? Lazy? No, Salazar knew that Harry worked hard for those things that were really worth it.

The longer he listened, the more confused he came until he finally reached the only conclusion he could draw from the whole rant. Severus didn't know Harry at all, but he was comparing him to someone. Finally, as the Potions Master took a deep breath, the ghost spoke firmly.

"May I ask who you're talking about?"

Severus whirled around; he had forgotten the founder was still there. Trying to calm the rage consuming him, he scowled at the ghost calmly floating there. "Potter, of course, who else do you think I'm talking about you stupid..."

"Watch your tone! I'm not one of you students, and I still have enough magic to make you regret such remarks." Seeing the younger man step back slightly from him, Salazar continued. "You can't be talking about Harry."

The calm confidence coming from the ghost startled Severus for a moment until anger overpowered him again. "Of course I'm talking about Harry Bloody Potter! Thank Merlin there's no one as spoiled and arrogant and..."

Salazar cut his rant immediately. "For starters, Harry is not spoiled."

This time Severus spoke before the founder could continue. "How can you say that? With his relatives waiting at his beck and call, and the whole wizarding world placing him on a pedestal, how can you say he's not spoiled?"

Salazar frowned darkly down at him. "I didn't know that you considered being locked up, starved, and verbally abused as being spoiled, Severus. As for the regard the wizarding world has for him, it would be a burden to any child, especially one that has been raised to think he was nothing but a freak."

This time the silence was longer, but not by much. "Did the boy tell you all those lies?"

Salazar was slowly growing annoyed. "No, he didn't, I saw it in his mind. You really should start teaching your students how to protect themselves from mental attacks; it was ridiculously easy to see what I needed to know to deal with him."

Seeing he was going no where with those accusations and storing what the ghost had said in his mind, Severus started on some of the boy's other "faults". "He's arrogant, just as arrogant as his father!"

Salazar raised an eyebrow. "Please, don't be ridiculous, the kid has completely no self-confidence. And if you don't see it, then you either are blind or are just as stupid as all those people worshiping him for his name."

Severus looked insulted, but his subconscious was starting to nag at him. "He deceived me, he laughed at me!"

Salazar was starting to lose his patience at that point. "Yes, he deceived you, and everyone else under the headmaster's orders and because it was safer that way. You can't tell me you have never done the same, or are you going to tell me you tell everything that happens to the Dark Lord or to Dumbledore. As for laughing at you, that's rubbish; the kid has come to like you a lot, he enjoys spending time with you."

Snape shook his head, trying to dispel those words. "You're lying, Potter would never do something like that if it wasn't to make fun of me."

The ghost pressed his lips together, anger evident in his silvery eyes. "That's enough, if you can't get over your irrational anger at someone that's long dead then I'll have to help you."

Severus snapped his head up as the ghost appeared in front of him. "What...?"

Before he had a chance to finish his question, his eyes locked with the ones belonging to Salazar, and he felt his mind being torn open. As much as he tried to resist, the founder was much more powerful in this, and it barely took him a moment to enter his mind. Then images started to flash through him, images he knew didn't belong to him.

He saw himself in what had been Alec's room when he had first met him. He was reading one of his books, and he realised he was seeing himself from Harry's point of view. Sudden thoughts started to run through his mind.

'How am I supposed to act around him? As Harry, it's easy enough, he hates me, but how can I justify hating him as Alec?' after a short silence, the thoughts continued. 'Can I manage being civil to him? It would certainly reinforce my disguise since Harry Potter would never get along with Snape.'

Severus saw the image in his mind fade, if the situation had been different, he might have laughed, those thoughts had been positively Slytherin. Before he could comment, another image started.

It was the first time he had offered to play chess with Harry, while no words were coming, he could feel the surprise and amusement coming from the teen, and then, as the game progressed, he felt how relaxed and content the boy seemed. Had he really made him feel that way?

Image after image passed though his mind, showing how they had become closer. He saw how Alec really started to enjoy their time together, no longer doing it for the sake of his disguise but because he truly liked spending time with him.

He saw the time they had become closer, that cheeky remark that had solidified their friendship when he had accepted it. Severus was surprised at seeing how much the child seemed to understand him. There were few people that knew him as well as Harry seemed to do.

But there weren't only happy memories in there; he was deeply shocked at the anguish and fear he felt coming from Harry at the thought of him finding out. His heart started to break when he saw how accepting the teen seemed to be to the fact that the Professor would hate him the moment he discovered the truth. He finally understood the deep need he had sometimes sensed coming from the teen to spend time with him, as he was afraid that he would leave him.

Now at least he understood what the train incident had been about. He couldn't suppress his amusement at how the boy had manipulated him, but the deep sadness the impregnated those thoughts brought another crack at the hate he had been feeling a few minutes ago.

Slowly, the images faded, but not before he got a glimpse of some disturbing things, none of them related to him: a large man pushing a child roughly aside, only to yell at him after he had fallen to the ground. The same child running from what seemed to be bullies while other children laughed in amusement at the side. The child, now he realised it must be Harry, trying to mow the lawn when he didn't even reach the handle.

Those images quickly faded and he found himself back in his rooms. Salazar was floating in front of him, an annoyed glint still present in his eyes.

His feelings a complete mess, Severus let himself fall back into his couch and buried his head in his hands. What was he supposed to do now? He hated Potter, but the boy he had thought he knew was nothing like he really was. The only thing that really had become clear from all those images was that Alec was more like the real Harry Potter than his preconceived notions were.

Before he had the chance to speak, the soft voice coming from the ghost broke the tense silence. "Alec has given you a precious gift; he cares about you deeply, even if he knows that you're going to hurt him when you find out. I'm going to keep him with me until tomorrow. He's sleeping, and I see no point to wake him up right now. I'll bring him here just before breakfast, but if you can't get over your pointless hate, then please get someone to fetch him. It the least you can do for everything the child has given you." Salazar looked down at him intently. "If you come to your senses, I would appreciate it if you didn't mention what I've told you to anyone, not even Alec. The others don't need to know yet, and Alec doesn't need to doubt you now, when he needs your support."

Then with a soft pop, the ghost disappeared, leaving a pensive man behind him. Severus remained where his was for a long time, his mind trying to cope with the revelations that the last hours had brought. He needed to decide what to do but right now, he was at a loss. After a few more minutes, he remembered the other teachers, who were probably still looking for the boy. Using the floo connection, he looked into the teacher's room. Sprout was there, pacing around the room. When she noticed him, she hurried to him.

"Have you found him, Severus?"

The younger man nodded. "Yes, he's sleeping now. Can you send someone to Minerva? I better stay here with him."

The woman sighed in relieve. "Don't worry about it, Filius has already gone to the hospital. Let us know if you need something, Severus."

"I will, thank you."

With that, he broke the connection and turned to his potion stores. He needed to think, and he might as well try to do it without the headache that was right now trying to kill his brain.

_A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my wonderful beta, Vinnie._

**To Moses and Danielle**: _I'm very sorry for not answering right away, but your review was cut short and I didn't get your e-mail, can you send it again so I can answer you properly, please? :)_

**To Ankha**:_ 'Chuckles' hey, you guessed mostly right ;) and as always your reviews are very fun to read, I'll think about the Great Hall thingy, not a bad idea at all, even if I don't think Sev is going to need help in knowing that Harry cares about him. Happy writing to you too._


	26. Meeting the Parents

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters._

**Web of Lies: Revelations.**

He hadn't slept a wink last night, thoughts about Alec and Albus plaguing his mind, making it impossible for him to relax enough to fall asleep. News had come that Albus was doing slightly better, even if he wasn't out of the woods yet. That had been about an hour ago, and now, the time for breakfast was approaching, and Severus still didn't know what to do about Alec. He had come to terms with the fact that the Harry Potter he had thought he knew before had never existed. And while still feeling a bit betrayed by the headmaster and the child, he understood that it had been necessary, especially with him, considering how close he got to the Dark Lord when he was called.

No, he knew he would forgive them both, and given time, he would get over his doubts and keep the relationship he had built with the teen. The problem he had was another one, was he really the right person to take care of the teen right now? Salazar had said he would bring the boy here, but Severus didn't know if he would be able to push all his issues aside and help the boy so soon after he had found out the truth. Someone else would probably be able to do a better job and yet, a part of him resented the idea of someone else taking care of the teen now that Dumbledore wasn't there to do so. Alec was his nephew in a way, he was the one the child called "uncle." It was him Dumbledore had trusted with his safety while he couldn't be there.

Those feelings overruled his common sense that was telling him he should let another teacher deal with the child. So he stayed, and waited, hoping his instinct would be right and he would be able to help the child without his darker feelings getting in the way. Just as he had done the night before, Salazar appeared in his rooms. The two Slytherins looked at each other intently, and Severus could have sworn there was a proud glint in those ghostly eyes.

Salazar looked down at the young man standing in front of him, he still saw the conflicting emotions in his eyes, but the fact that he was here told him that he was willing to try. He hoped he had made the right choice in confiding in the man. "If you knowingly hurt him, I will make you regret it."

Severus kept his gaze locked with the ghost and nodded. Yes, and he knew Salazar would not be the only one to hunt him down if he hurt the child. Suddenly, the fire flared, and Severus turned around to catch the small form that tumbled out of it. One glance at the pale, tearstained face erased any lingering doubt about his ability to forgive the teen. This was Alec, the child he had come to love, and he couldn't bear seeing him so upset.

Without a word, he drew the child into his arms and went to sit in his armchair with the teen curled up in his lap. He noticed that Salazar had left and felt somehow happy that the founder seemed to trust him after his reaction the night before. Pushing all thoughts about that aside, he concentrated on the child. He gently started to rock him a bit, trying to comfort him now that tears were starting to fall down his cheeks again.

"That's it, Alec, don't keep it inside, cry as much as you need."

They sat together for a long time, with Severus patiently waiting until the tears had stopped. Finally, after a few last sniffs, Alec drew away, trying to dry his puffy eyes with his hands. Smiling fondly down at the teen, Severus carefully dried the tears that the boy had missed before hugging him closely again.

"Better?"

Harry nodded into the shoulder his head was resting against. "Yes, thank you, Uncle Severus. How's Granddad doing?"

The man considered lying for a moment, but that wouldn't help them if things turned out for the worst. Sighing, he gently started to pet the boy's hair. "I won't lie to you, Albus is doing better than he was yesterday, but he isn't out of danger yet."

Harry nodded and buried his head deeper in his teacher's chest, drawing all the comfort he needed at the moment. "I thought you had gone to the hospital with Aunt Minerva?"

Severus tried to detect some reproach in the young voice but found none, there was just a deep sadness and tiredness. "I went, but I came back as soon as we realised you were still here. I'm sorry we forgot about you, that was unforgivable."

Alec shrugged slightly. "Doesn't matter."

Snape frowned and drew a bit back so he could see the teen's face. A few tears were once again making their way down the teen's cheek, but Alec seemed to be fighting against them. "Of course it matters; we shouldn't have left you behind, especially after hearing such bad news." Then, looking a bit sterner down at the teen, he continued. "But you should have gone to one of the teachers if you didn't want to go to your common room. We were looking for you for hours after we realised you weren't there."

Alec bowed his head, avoiding looking the man in the eye. "I'm sorry, Uncle Severus."

For a moment, the man wanted to bring Salazar into the conversation, but one look at his charge convinced him it was not the right moment to do so. Despite the ghost's assurances that the boy had been sleeping last night, Alec still looked completely exhausted, and it looked like he would fall asleep at any given moment. Sighing slightly, the Potions Master drew the teen back to his chest and started to rock him lightly, hoping to push the teen to sleep. He was about to succeed when someone knocked lightly on his door. Cursing in his mind, the Potions Master stood up and put the child in the chair he had just abandoned.

"Stay here, I'll be right back."

Without waiting for an answer, the tall wizard moved to the door and opened it. Professor Sinistra was standing there, a worried frown on her pale face. "Ah, Severus, we just got a message from St. Mungo's. It seems that Alec's parents have arrived, and they asked if you would take him there."

The younger man frowned but nodded anyway. "Ok, I'll take him. Is there anything new on Albus?"

The woman shook her head sadly. "The doctors say that they can't do anything else until he wakes, and they don't know when that might happen."

Severus nodded and quietly bid the woman goodbye. Turning around, he saw that the boy was curled up in the couch, with his eyes closed. Silently he moved to the fire and asked a house-elf if he could bring Alec some clothes. After the little being complied, he returned to the couch and sat down next to the child.

"Alec."

Before he had the chance to shake the boy's shoulder, his eyes snapped open and he sat up straight.

"Uncle Severus?"

The man nodded and presented him with some robes. "Get changed, Child. Your parents are in the hospital, and they want to see you."

For a moment, Harry didn't move. He was not in the mood to play right now, he just wanted to curl up and try to calm the panic that had started to size him with the notice of the attack on the headmaster. On the other hand, he knew there were few chances to get close to Dumbledore now if it wasn't because his supposed parents wanted him there. And no matter what, he wanted, no, he needed to be close just in case something else happened. The old man had protected him for a long while and he felt the need to protect him now that he couldn't do so himself. Steeling himself for what surely would be an uncomfortable and tense meeting, Harry took the robes from the man's hands and went to the bathroom to change.

Severus watched silently as the boy came out of the bathroom, dressed in the clean robes he had given him minutes before. He was looking very pale and frail, like he would collapse at any given moment. Silently, he offered his hand to the child, and Alec latched on to it with both his smaller hands. Severus, now knowing the truth, couldn't help but wonder if Albus had done something to make him seem smaller than he was. He didn't sense any magic around him, but a fifteen year old couldn't be so small. Pushing those thoughts aside, he pushed Alec gently to the fire, and after tossing a bit of floo in it, he stepped in the fireplace, the boy firmly attached to his side.

When they reached the hall in which Dumbledore's room was, Severus felt Alec tense at his side. Frowning a bit, he looked down and saw that the child had his gaze locked on something. Following the direction he was looking at, he noticed that Minerva was sitting there with a younger couple. The woman was leaning against the tall man standing besides her. They were listening as Minerva spoke, nodding from time to time. Looking back to Alec, he saw the doubt shinning in his blue eyes and suddenly understood why the boy was so tense.

Sighing, Severus squeezed the child's hands a bit. He understood now that the teen had never seen his supposed parents before and was afraid to destroy his cover. Luckily, Severus had been introduced to Albus's niece many years ago and was now able to calm the child's fears.

"Don't you want to go say hello to your parents, Alec?"

The child shifted at his side, letting some of the tension ebb away from him. "Do you think they're still mad at me?"

Severus couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, surprised at how the child managed to keep his act together. "I don't know what your argument was about, Child, but I'm sure that hardly matters right now. Are you still angry at them? A few days ago you were really angry at that letter from your mother."

Alec pressed a bit more against his side. "It was stupid, I shouldn't have been angry; they only wanted what was best for me."

Severus nodded, he was now fairly sure Harry hadn't been angry at the letter but he didn't press the matter. They needed to get a move; they were starting to draw attention. Before he could move, the woman looked up and locked gazes with the child. The Potions Master felt the boy tense before he let go of his hand and rushed towards the woman. If he hadn't known better, he would have found himself in front of a perfectly normal family driven together because of an accident. Shaking his head, he walked closer as Amanda gave Alec to Chris and smiled up at him with slightly red eyes.

"Hello, Severus, how have you been?"

To be continued...

A/N: Merry Christmas to you all, I hope you enjoyed this.


	27. Problems

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters._

_**Web of Lies: Revelations.**_

Severus nodded lightly to her. She had been a fourth year when he started at Hogwarts, and while they had never been friends, she had once tutored him in transfiguration at Professor McGonagall's prompting. In his opinion, she had been one of the most tolerable Gryffindors. "I'm doing ok, you?"

The woman smiled lightly. "We have been through a rough time, with Chris' injury, then the whole fight with Alec, and now this." Dumbledore's niece looked towards her man and her supposed child. "Uncle Albus has told me you've been taking care of Alec. I really appreciate it."

Severus had to do a real effort to not tell her to drop the act, so he simply nodded and looked towards the boy, who was now standing uncomfortably next to his supposed father. "It has been no problem, Amanda, Alec is really a sweet child."

The teen, who had been listening intently to them, blushed brightly. "Uncle Severus!"

The adults all laughed at his embarrassment. But soon the mood sobered, and Severus turned to face Amanda once again. "How is Albus doing? Sinistra didn't tell me much."

The woman shrugged, looking sadly towards the closed door. "She probably told you what the doctors have told us. He needs to wake up for them to treat him further, until then..."

Chris placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "The doctors are once again in there, trying to find out if they can get him to wake up. They fear that if they wake him in the usual way, he might go into shock, and right now that would only make things worse."

Severus nodded in understanding and watched as Chris tried to comfort his distraught wife. His attention soon moved to Alec who was looking at them uncomfortably. Sensing the teen's distress, the man moved his arm a bit in invitation. It seemed to be enough, because a second later, the boy was at his side, pressing his face against his side. Without a word, Severus wrapped a comforting arm around him and rocked him lightly.

The silence that had descended on them was broken when the door opened. A few men stepped outside and while most of them continued on their way down the hall, an older looking wizard approached them with a tired smile.

Amanda and Minerva looked up and watched the man expectantly. Luckily, they didn't need to ask anything. Probably sensing their distress, the man started to explain without prompting.

"I won't lie to you and say that everything is going to be ok, because it's too soon to say that, but we've been able to dispel one of the curses that were giving us most trouble. It was affecting his heart and lungs so the fact that it's now gone should help us enormously."

Everyone sighed in relief, and Severus felt Alec relax a bit against his side. It wasn't what they had been hoping for, but at least it wasn't bad news. Chris stepped forward. "Can we see him?"

The man looked at them pensively. "I don't see why not, but not everyone at the same time, please. Why don't you and Madam Dumbledore go in first?"

Severus felt Alec tense at his side again, and when he looked down, he saw the child biting his lip in order to remain silent. Knowing how he was feeling, Severus squeezed his shoulder lightly. Before he could say anything comforting, Amanda had turned to them. Bending down slightly so she was looking the child in the eye, she spoke softly. "Do you want to go in first with Chris, Alec?"

The teen looked at her for a long time. He wanted to go in and see that Dumbledore was really alive, but he didn't want to go with one of them. He wouldn't feel comfortable with his supposed parents and that on top of dealing with his own emotions would be more than he thought he could bear right now. Besides, he could easily see the longing to see the old man in the woman's eyes. So he shook his head and pressed himself a bit more against Severus.

"It's ok, Mum. You can go see him first; I'll go in later with Uncle Severus or Aunt Minerva."

The woman looked at him intently. "Are you sure?"

Harry nodded and attempted to brighten the mood a bit. "Yes, besides, I haven't had breakfast yet, and I'm very hungry."

The woman laughed lightly and gently ruffled his hair. "Very well, I'll see you later then."

Then, to Harry's surprise, she bend over and gently kissed his forehead before turning around and going to Dumbledore's room followed by her husband. Alec watched the closed door intently, still trying to figure out how he felt about the small gesture. He was jostled out of his thoughts when Minerva approached them.

"How about we go find something to eat? I haven't had breakfast either."

Severus frowned at her, she had deep rings under her eyes, and she seemed to be about to fall asleep. "Why don't you go back to Hogwarts and get some sleep." Then another thought came to him. "And where's Filius? I thought he was here with you."

The woman yawned and nodded. "He was until Amanda and Chris arrived, then he went to the Ministry to find out about what happened."

She rubbed her eyes lightly; the tiredness seemed to be catching up on her. "You really should go rest for a bit, send someone else if you want."

Minerva nodded reluctantly. "If you're sure, I could use a few hours of rest. I'll send someone along."

Severus nodded and watched as she moved down the hall they had come from. After she disappeared from their sight, he turned around to face the child. "Come on then, let's get you something to eat."

Harry looked down. "I'm not hungry."

The man raised an eyebrow. "You just said you wanted to have breakfast."

The child shrugged. "It was just to convince her to go in, she wanted to see him but was making an effort for me."

Frowning, Severus knelt down and forced the boy to meet his eyes. "If you wanted to go in, why didn't you say so?"

Alec shrugged and nodded towards the door. "She wanted to see him too."

The man nodded. "Yes, she did, but she gave you the opportunity to go first. Why not take it when it was so kindly offered. She probably knows that you've grown closer and thought that seeing him would comfort you."

Alec shrugged lightly, seemingly not knowing how to answer such a question. In the end he just said: "It just seemed to be the right thing to do."

Of course he could have said that he didn't want to go in with Chris, but he didn't want to arouse the Professor's curiosity so he left it at that. Seeing that he wasn't going to get any more answers from the teen, Severus stood up and took the youth's hand.

"Even so, you should eat something, and I haven't had breakfast either so let's go look for something."

Reluctantly, the teen followed Severus, who didn't give him much a choice since he had taken his hand and refused to let go of it. Soon they found themselves in Muggle London. The man led them to a small cafe where he ordered a small breakfast for each of them. They ate silently, Severus didn't seem to be very hungry either but it would be hypocritical from him to refuse to eat when he had insisted that Alec had something.

They were finishing their breakfast when suddenly Harry looked up from his half empty plate. There was a deep frown on his face and his gaze seemed to be locked on nothing. Severus, noticing there was something wrong, gently reached out and touched his hand lightly. "Alec? Is there something wrong?"

The child blinked, but his gaze didn't focus on him. "There's something wrong. We should go back."

"Alec, what are you talking about?"

But the teen wasn't listening anymore. He was on his feet and had started running towards St. Mungo's. Cursing softly, Severus threw a few muggle pounds on the table and quickly moved to follow the teen, ignoring the questioning glances that were being thrown their way.

With his longer legs, he managed to catch up with the teen halfway to the hospital, but instead of stopping him, he decided to follow. They quickly entered the building and Severus followed Harry towards Dumbledore's room. He knew that Alec had been right as soon as they approached the place. Amanda and Chris were standing in the hall, pale and trembling while healers and nurses hurried in and out of the room. Both Alec and Severus managed to peek into the room and the sight in there made them both pale. It seemed that Albus was having a seizure of some kind and the shouts and orders being screamed over the place told them it was bad.

_To be continued..._

_A/N: Happy New Year to you all. Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my wonderful beta, Vinnie. (Que? T'ha agradat? XD)_


	28. Healing

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters._

**Web of Lies: Revelations.**

Alec seemed to be frozen in shock at the sight that presented the room. He wasn't able to move at all until a nurse rushed past him, pushing him roughly into Severus, who had enough presence of mind to catch him before he landed on the floor. Before either could comment, a shout made their hearts drop.

"His heart has stopped! Quickly, we need to get it beating again!"

The movements of the people in the room turned frantic, and for a few minutes, the four of them watched transfixed as all those wizards tried to bring movement back in the old heart. Nothing they did seemed to be working, it seemed they had lost the battle against the many curses the old man had sustained. Severus, seeing that this was going to end badly, started to move Alec away. There was no need for the teen to witness this. But the sudden movement seemed to jostle the boy out of his horror, and he suddenly jerked out of the man's arms.

Severus couldn't keep a hold of the teen and tried to catch him again as he moved to the room. "Alec!"

One of the healers looked up briefly. "Get that child out of the room!"

Chris and two other wizards moved towards the child, who hadn't stopped in his approach. Before they could reach him, they were pushed back by an enormous power that left them gapping at the small form that was quickly making his way to the bed. The nurses and healers that had been gathered around the dying man's bed were forced aside and even the head healer had to stop his protests in front of such strength.

All the while, Harry was ignoring everything happening around him. His mind was completely focused on the man lying in the white bed while he tried to remember everything he had been reading this summer and latter under Salazar's tutoring. In the old days, all apprentices were forced to know basic healing and while Harry had just started learning about it, his knowledge was complemented with several books he had read over the summer in the headmaster's house.

When he finally reached the bed, he put his softly glowing hands on the old man's chest. He knew that he needed to get his heart beating again before it was too late. Closing his eyes lightly, he pushed all thoughts aside and suddenly found himself in the man's body. It felt a bit like Rowena's training so he didn't do anything to fight it. Instead he moved towards the place where his instincts told him the heart was. He found it without further trouble and immediately saw what the problem was. There had been a curse placed around the heart that was slowly obstructing his veins. The charm was nearly undetectable from the outside and by the time the healers might have detected it, the sudden dispelling of this curse would have killed the man anyway because of the sudden rush of blood in his heart.

Knowing he was running out of time, Harry quickly forced his magic to place a few blocks in the veins and quickly dispelled the curse. It wasn't very difficult to do, the tricky part now was to restart the heart and get the flow of blood back to normal. The first was quickly dealt with. Using a small shock, not unlike he had seen muggle doctors doing, Alec was able to restart the heart and at the same time he made a small opening in his blocks. Very slowly, the blood started to flow freely once more. It took him about fifteen minutes to get it back to normal and by the time he was sure that Albus would be able to sustain himself, he was feeling exhausted. Even so, he didn't go back to his body. He sensed the presence of a few other curses that the healers didn't seem to have detected so he moved to them and tried to deal with them.

Everyone in the room had gone silent. The healers were kept at bay by the strange energy that now not only surrounded the boy but also the bed and they had by then given up on trying to interfere. There had been a shock about twenty minutes ago when suddenly the charms on the bed indicated that Dumbledore's heart was beating again. That had calmed many of the presents. Whatever it was that the small boy was doing seemed to be helping, and yet he was still standing there in trance, glowing softly.

Then, after ten more minutes, the feel of the room suddenly changed. The glow around the teen disappeared and the energy that had been holding them away lessened, allowing them to move once again towards the bed. Quickly, the healers moved to examine the old man, one of them catching Alec as he slumped down on the bed clearly exhausted.

Severus found himself suddenly with his arms full of teenager and he had to fight to keep his balance. Quickly he changed his grip on the teen, allowing him to lean against his chest with the small head nestled against his shoulder.

Chris, who had until now been standing silently at his side, came a bit closer. "Is he alright?"

Severus glanced at the other man before focusing his attention back to the child. He was very pale and was trembling in his arms. His eyes were slightly open but he didn't seem aware of his surroundings.

"Alec?" The child didn't react to his name, and Severus shook him gently with the hand not holding him up. "Alec, answer me please."

For a moment it didn't look like the teen had heard him, but before he could shook him again, Alec turned his face into the man's shoulder and his arms went weakly up around his neck.

"It's cold, Uncle Sev."

The Potions Master frowned; to his senses the room was rather warm, but he didn't think this was a good moment to argue his point with the child. Looking up, he saw that Chris was already coming with a blanket and between the two of them they managed to wrap the teen up in its warmness without letting go of him.

"Better, Alec?"

The child nodded against his shoulder, but didn't otherwise move. As if remembering their presence in the room, a nurse came over to them and asked them to wait in the hall. Amanda, who had been watching everything from the door, stepped back and let them through before starting to fuss over Harry. The teen didn't seem to appreciate it much, because he tried to move closer to Severus who was now sitting with the boy in his lap. The woman finally gave up and moved to where Chris was standing.

They stayed there for a long while, and at some point, Professor Sprout appeared before them, and after they had explained everything they knew, silence came over them again.

Alec had long gone to sleep on Severus' lap when the door finally opened again. At once, everyone stood up, with the Potions Master trying not to jolt his charge too much. The head healer looked towards them and shook his head lightly.

"I still don't understand what that young man did, but he certainly saved Professor Dumbledore's life. In fact, he also seems to have dealt with some of the trouble we couldn't explain."

Amanda, who was clutching Chris' arm, spoke tentatively. "That means my uncle is doing better?"

The man looked at her gently. "Much better, he hasn't woken up yet but we think he now has a good chance to make it through."

There was a huge sigh of relief in the hall. Professor Sprout quickly walked away, obviously going to inform someone at Hogwarts about the latest news while Amanda and Chris hugged each other, the woman sobbing against her husband in relief. The healer smiled lightly and motioned to Severus to follow him.

"Come with me, please, we better make sure that young fellow is doing ok."

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and thanks to Vinnie for beta-reading this.


	29. No need for deception

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

Severus left the doctor's office about half an hour later. The man had said that Alec was just exhausted, having spent a lot of energy in helping his grandfather but that he seemed to be fine. Just in case, the doctor recommended bringing him to Hogwarts and let Madam Pomfrey look him over since she had treated him before. The Potions Master had just nodded at the suggestion, knowing he would have done it anyway and silently left the office with the child cradled in his arms.

He returned to the hall where Sinistra and Chris were waiting. It seemed Amanda had been allowed back into Albus' room. The man looked up when he approached and looked at the pair uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, Professor Snape."

The man looked at him with a raised eyebrow, not understanding what the other wizard was referring to. "You can call me Severus, no need for formalities at a time like this. And may I ask what you are sorry about?"

Chris motioned towards the child still sleeping against the Professor's chest. "Amanda and I should be taking better care of Alec, you shouldn't have to look after him while we're here, but everything is kind of overwhelming right now."

Snape narrowed his eyes a bit and looked towards the other teacher. Sinistra, sensing he wanted to speak to the other man in private, offered to take care of Alec while they spoke. With only a nod, the Potions Master transferred the child from his arms to her lap, being careful not to jostle him too much and then took Chris' arm, leading him a bit away and throwing a privacy charm around them.

Before Chris could ask what was going on, the younger man turned around and looked at him seriously. "There's no need for you to keep the act up around me; I am very well aware that Alec isn't your son."

The other wizard blinked at him in surprise. "Excuse me?"

Severus crossed his arms and scowled. "Don't play games with me, I know that you and your wife are only pretending to be Alec, or should I say Harry's parents."

Chris cocked his head in confusion. "Uncle Albus didn't tell us he had told you."

Snape sighed relaxing a bit against the wall. "He didn't, someone else told me. Someone that had the good sense to know that had I found out in front of the child, I could have hurt him quite a bit. It's no secret that I've hated the Potters for most of my life." Feeling the man tense at his side, he smirked a bit in reassurance. "Don't worry; while I'm still trying to work through my feelings on the matter, I have come to care about Alec enough not to hurt him. Knowing him as Dumbledore's grandson has allowed me to see past my hatred to the child he really is, and believe me, he's nothing like I thought Harry Potter was."

Chris nodded. "Albus told us once he was worried about you finding out; you're taking it much better than Uncle thought you would."

Severus frowned a bit. "Your uncle was right, I didn't take it well. Luckily, the person who told me had the means to make me see reason rather quickly." The man straightened up. "I only told you this because you don't need to try and act all mushy around Harry. He doesn't seem to know how to act around you any more than you do around him, and it's just making the whole situation more uncomfortable than needed. Just try to keep appearances around the rest of the staff."

Chris nodded in agreement but before the other man could leave his side, he spoke again. "Does Alec know that you know?"

Severus shook his head quite forcefully. "No one knows that I know; no one besides my informant of course, but he's not likely to go babbling around. I would appreciate it if you could keep it that way. Harry doesn't need to start second guessing me at a time like this when he needs all the support he can get, and Albus doesn't need to worry about things like this now that he's injured. Just tell your wife and keep quite about it, Albus is right to want to keep this secret very quiet."

The other wizard nodded and together they moved back to where Sinistra and Alec were. Severus gently lifted the boy back into his arms and looked at his companions. "I'm going to take him to Hogwarts so Madam Pomfrey can have a look at him, just in case."

Chris nodded and as his wife had done earlier, he bent over and gently kissed the teen's forehead. "I trust you'll take care of him, Severus?"

The Potions Master nodded seriously. "Of course, you don't need to worry about Alec; I'll make sure he's fine. If Poppy gives her ok, I'll bring him back tomorrow. Keep me informed on Albus' state, please."

Both adults nodded in answer and he left them to their vigil.

Once back to Hogwarts, Severus quickly made his way to the hospital wing. He was fairly surprised to see that most of the beds were occupied. He watched as Poppy rushed from one bed to another, giving the children laying there some potions while grumbling under her breath. It took her nearly twenty minutes to notice them, and by that time, Severus had taken a seat, with Alec sleeping comfortably in his lap, and was trying to figure out what had happened.

"Severus! What happened?"

The man looked at her and shook his head. "That's what I was going to ask. As far as I know, the infirmary was empty when I left this morning."

The nurse nodded as she started to run her wand over the sleeping teen. "Minerva will be able to tell you the details, but it seems that a fight broke out between the members of the new house. Well, it took the teachers a while to notice so there was quite some damage done. Nothing permanent of course, but there were lots of bruises, cuts, and several broken bones, not to mention the hexes."

She shook her head in exasperation and the Potions Master frowned. "I was going to leave Alec into your care, but I don't think that's such a great idea."

The nurse nodded. "What happened to him anyway? He's completely exhausted. And how's Albus doing?"

The man briefly told her what had happened; by the end of his story, she was shaking her head in amazement. "I knew he was powerful, but I had no idea how much. There's not much I can do for him, so you better take him with you."

The man nodded and rose from his seat, Alec still sleeping undisturbed in his arms. Poppy looked at them with a small smile on her face. "I don't think he'll wake up until tomorrow evening at the soonest so don't worry about that. If you can't take care of him or have to leave to go to the hospital, you can bring him here."

Severus snorted, looking around the full room. "I don't mean to insult you, Poppy, but I don't think that Alec would be exactly... safe... in here. Don't worry, Minerva and I will take turns watching him, or else I'm sure Filius won't mind, he seems to be rather taken with the lad."

Poppy chuckled. "And who isn't, Severus? Anyway, I'll check on him sometime tomorrow so at least let the elves know where he is, please."

Snape nodded and after saying his goodbyes, he left the large room. On his way to the dungeons, he stopped a group of Gryffindors and ordered them to ask Minerva to go down to his room as soon as she could. The students nodded and quickly left the man alone, knowing that while he was gently cradling the headmaster's grandson in his arms, that gentleness was not reserved for anyone else.

Once in his room, Severus settled Alec in his own bed and softly muttered a few charms. They would make sure that Harry stayed protected and that he would be warned if something was wrong with him. He had barely had time to serve himself a cup of tea when someone knocked on the door. With a brief sigh, he stood up again and went to open the door. As expected, Minerva entered as soon as he opened the door for her and with barely a glance to him she went to his bedroom. Severus closed the door shaking his head, wondering if he should feel insulted at his colleague's lack of regard to his privacy. After a moment, he decided to let it go; after all he would probably have done the same had their roles been inversed. With barely a sound, he went to stand next to the woman.

Minerva glanced at him once before her gaze settled on the sleeping figure once again. "Is he alright?"

Severus nodded and led her gently back to the living room. "Both, Poppy and the doctor at St. Mungo's say he's fine. Just tired and that's no wonder after all he did to save Albus' life."

Minerva nodded and sat down in the Potions Master's comfortable couch. "I'm still trying to understand how he did something like that. I didn't hear the details, but Pomona told me that the doctors had nearly given up on saving him."

Severus shrugged, resuming his seat in the leather armchair. "Who knows, I don't think he even knew what he was doing; he was in some sort of trance while the magic flowed around him. It was amazing to see."

Minerva looked pensively. "There's still something I don't understand. I thought you had taken him out to have breakfast, were you just back in time to the hospital when it happened?"

Narrowing his eyes, Snape remembered what had happened when they were eating. The happenings in the hospital had been so overwhelming that he had nearly forgotten about it. "We were just back, but it was not by chance. We had both been having something to eat when suddenly Alec stated that there was something wrong and that we had to go back. I didn't even have a chance to hold him back, and when I finally caught up with him, I decided to see what he was on about." Severus sipped his tea. "Believe me, I'm glad I did."

Minerva smiled slightly at him in understanding. "Your instincts are usually right, Severus. Anyway, a few Gryffindors told me you wanted to see me?"

The wizard nodded. "Would you mind taking care of Alec for a while? I need to brew some potions, seeing the war zone that the infirmary has become, there's no doubt that Poppy will need them."

Minerva grimaced at those words. She hadn't been in the hospital wing, but the state the children had been in when she and Sinistra found them was enough for her to know that quite a lot of potions would be needed.

Severus looked at her curiously. "What happened anyway?"

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie.


	30. Fights

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

Minerva rubbed her eyes tiredly. "I'm not completely sure, most of the ones involved are in the Hospital Wing, and no matter how annoyed Poppy was with them, she didn't allow me to talk to them. I think that she just needed something to do to keep her mind busy."

Severus smirked knowingly but chose not to comment. His colleague sipped her tea and returned to her train of thought. "As far as I've been able to figure it out, some of the students made some nasty remarks about Albus being already dead and us not wanting to admit it, a few of the other students overheard and answered. One thing led to the other and by the time we arrived, they had come to blows. It's a good thing they didn't have their wands with them."

Severus nodded, staring pensively at his own cup. While Minerva had omitted names and houses, the Potions Master was very sure it had been students of his house that started with the remarks and students of Minerva's house who started with the blows. While he would love to blame it all to the Gryffindors, he was too tired of the stupid rivalry to try and ignore the guilt his own house bore.

Passing a tired hand through his hand, the younger wizard nodded. "I'll try to talk to my students, not that I think it will help much since I'm quite limited on what I can say, but I'll try to do something about them."

Minerva shrugged lightly. "Personally, I'm not sure if it's worth the effort."

Severus frowned and looked at the old woman closely at those defeated words. She seemed very tired and worn. "Have you rested, Minerva? You look like you are about to keel over."

Those words forced a small laugh out of her throat. "I'm afraid I haven't been able to sleep yet, Severus. Too much has been going on. First the students, then Filius came back from the Ministry..."

Before she could continue, he sat straight up. "Filius is back? What did he find out about the attack?"

The witch sipped her tea. "It seems that some of the governors were replaced by polyjuiced Death Eaters. No one seemed to notice until they started to curse Albus. Unfortunately, they were all taken by surprise, and by the time they managed to react, Albus was already unconscious. The aurors were called but they were detained for some reason, no one knows exactly why but Filius and a few aurors think it was Fudge's doing."

Severus clenched his fists. "That stupid, good for nothing excuse for a human being! How much more do we have to take of his incompetent rule until someone finally realises he will be our downfall?"

Minerva smiled tiredly. "Not much longer it seems. Some of the governors overheard one of the aurors say that they had been detained because Fudge had been holding some kind of nonsensical meeting and that when the call came, he told them to wait until he was finished speaking. That particular governor has friends in high places in the Wizengamot and has already started to pull some strings. Fudge will be facing an inquiry very soon. The fact that Albus was so gravely injured is also making people react, especially since about half of the Death Eaters managed to escape before the Aurors made it to the meeting place."

Severus was frowning deeply by the time she went silent. "What about the other Death Eaters?"

The witch shrugged lightly. "As far as we've been able to determine, the aurors are holding them in their cells, Fudge would be the one to order their interrogations but just as Albus did a few months ago, they have sworn off the Ministry until such a time in which there's a new Minister in charge. So until that happens or the chef of the Aurors decides to tell us what's going on, no one knows what's going to happen with the prisoners."

The two teachers remained silent for a long while. When Severus looked up from his cup, he found that Minerva had fallen asleep on his couch. With a small, sad smile, he threw a thin blanked over her sleeping form and went to check on Alec. The boy was still deeply asleep and showed no signs of waking up anytime soon. Looking at him closely for the first time since he had found out about the truth, Severus tried to compare the sleeping child to the boy he had known before.

Now that he knew, he could tell that the shape of the young wizard's face was the same but the different hair made it much less noticeable. Walking closer, he went to sit down on the bed, next to the boy. Passing a hand over the teen's hair, he tried to feel the scar that marred the boy's forehead. He knew there was no way that Alec would have a glamour over it, since he would have sensed it, and it probably wouldn't work over the curse scar, so something else must be covering it. While he didn't see anything, his sensitive fingers finally found a small patch of rougher skin that probably was the scar. He rubbed lightly over the boy's forehead but nothing changed.

Alec whimpered lightly in his sleep, and Severus took his hand away from the child. He would have to find out later how the headmaster had done it to hide the scar. For a long while, he sat there, looking at the young teen sleep. He was so deep lost in thoughts that he didn't hear the movement coming from the next room.

"I thought you had potions to brew?"

In a second the man was up, wand pointed out towards the open door. Minerva regarded him sleepily, her brain still trying to wake up enough for her to realise the danger she could have been in for startling the man. Severus shook his head and put his wand away.

"Don't do that, Minerva. And yes, I need to brew a few potions, but I didn't want to leave Alec alone."

The woman nodded and moved to the large bed. "Go brew your potions, I'll stay with him."

The Potions Master shook his head. "Not that I don't appreciate it, Minerva, but you're half asleep yourself. Why don't you go to your room to have a proper rest, and I'll try to find someone to look after Alec? I'm sure one of the older students would be more than willing."

The woman frowned; she didn't like the idea, but if she had to be truthful, she wouldn't be able to do much more else today until she had rested and the staff may need her later on. Sighing, she finally nodded. "I'll walk to the Ravenclaw common room and get one of the seventh years down here. Any preferences?"

Severus shrugged. "Not really, just someone that has a good head on his shoulders and knows to keep quiet."

The woman chuckled and after bidding her companion goodbye, she left the dungeons. As soon as she was out of his door, Severus moved to the fireplace and tossed a bit of floo powder into the fireplace. When the fire turned green, he muttered a word and put his head into the flames. His vision changed, and he found himself looking into the staff room. Luckily Professor Sinistra was there, sipping quietly on a cup of tea while reading a book.

"Serena?"

The woman jumped out of her chair and rounded to look at him. "Don't do that, Severus! Is there something wrong?"

The man rolled his eyes and would have made a remark about her obliviousness had the situation not been so serious. "No, there's nothing wrong except for the obvious. Could you just make sure that Minerva isn't bothered by anyone for a few hours? She's really about to drop, and we need her here should anything else happen."

The woman looked worried at his words and quickly nodded. "Don't worry, I will make sure the other staff members don't wake her."

Severus nodded but he still wasn't finished. "And could you make sure that someone checks on the Gryffindors and the Slytherins? I need to brew a few potions for the infirmary before Poppy runs out of them, and I suspect that Minerva has too many things on her plate to take the duties of Head of Gryffindor too seriously right now."

Serena nodded once again. "Don't worry, I'll take care of the Slytherins and ask Remus to look into the Gryffindors."

The Potions Master shook his head. "Lupin is in the hospital."

The witch sighed but shoed him away with a hand. "Don't worry about it, I'll find someone. Go tend to your potions." He was about to pull back when her voice stopped him. "Alec is with you, right?"

Severus nodded reassuringly. "Yes, don't worry, he's sleeping right now, and I'll keep him with me until everything has returned to normal."

After Sinistra nodded once again, Severus returned to his rooms just in time to hear a soft knock on his door. He quickly brushed the ashes out of his hair and went to open the door.

"Ah, Mr. McHill, come in please."

The Ravenclaw prefect entered the rooms cautiously. He had been very surprised to be asked by Professor McGonagall to come down here, and he had been half expecting it to be some kind of prank. The student followed his professor to another room which he immediately realised must be the man's bedroom. Sleeping peacefully on the bed lay Alec, looking very frail and pale.

"Did Professor McGonagall tell you why I needed your help?"

The student shook his head, a bit puzzled about why he was here. "Not really, Professor, she just asked if I minded coming down here and to bring something for with me to study."

Severus nodded sharply and motioned to Alec. "Today Alec did something that tired him out a great deal; Madam Pomfrey thinks he won't wake up until tomorrow at the earliest, but I need to do some things and need someone to watch over the child. The rest of the staff is extremely busy trying to keep everything together so I would appreciate it if you could stay with him for a few hours just to make sure he is ok."

The teen was already nodding when his professor was halfway through his explanation. "Of course I will, sir. Is there anything else I need to know?"

Severus shook his head, really relieved that Harry had been sorted in Ravenclaw this time around; he would have had many more problems had Minerva sent one of her Gryffindors. "Not really. I'll be in my lab." He pointed towards a closed door. "Warn me if there's anything wrong, like if he wakes up or if one of the other Professors need to speak with me. Feel free to call a house elf to bring you dinner later."

With a small swish of his wand, the Potions Master conjured a small table and a chair so that his student would be comfortable while working, and after reminding the young man to call him if there was something wrong he moved to his lab.

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to Vinnie for beta-reading this.


	31. The Slytherin House

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

When Severus finally finished with the potions, it was about three in the morning, and he finally felt he would be able to come to grips with the fact that Alec was none other than Harry Potter, the student he had hated for years. It had taken him a while to admit to himself that he had been unfair to the boy; he had always seen the father instead of the teen, blaming him for everything that went wrong and twisting his actions so they would fit the image he had of James. A part of him also pointed out that Harry had never allowed himself to act like he was doing now. He knew that the child had been putting a front to everyone to the point in which everyone saw the golden boy and not Harry himself. That fact made him feel a bit better. He had been just as misled as everyone else, in a bad way, but in the end, it came back to the same.

Sighing, and still in a pensive mood, the dark haired Potions Master returned to his room, only to find the Ravenclaw prefect asleep over the book he had been reading. For an instant, he considered the idea of waking the boy up and chastising him for sleeping while he was supposed to look after Alec, but after a moment he dismissed that idea, after all, it had become much later than he had expected, and the teen must have been tired after the last few days.

Silently, he levitated the Ravenclaw to the living room and lowered him to the couch. After throwing a light blanket over the teen, Severus went back to his room, and after a slight hesitation, he lay down next to Alec. It was unlikely that the teen would wake up before him, and Snape didn't really want to sleep on a couch.

The next day passed slowly. After dismissing the Ravenclaw prefect, Severus had taken one of his books to the bedroom and continued to watch over the sleeping teen while reading.

At noon, Minerva came over; she looked much better than the night before, and it was obvious that the other teachers had indeed left her to rest. She sat down next to him and told him of her visit to the hospital that morning. It seemed that while Albus was doing much better, he had not awakened yet which was starting to worry his doctors once again.

The two professors chatted for a while before the Gryffindor head of house ushered Severus out of his own rooms so he could take a break from watching Alec. After getting over his surprise of being tossed out of his own rooms, the Potions Master decided to go check on his own students. Entering the Slytherin common room, he was surprised to see most of them sitting in the middle of the large room, clustering around something he couldn't see. As the older man approached the large group of students, he could clearly hear a voice rising over the shocked whispers of the teenagers.

"I never really hated muggle borns, and those of you who have been told repeatedly that you are better than them just because of your blood should know better by now. After all, in this school there are many muggle borns, and you can't tell me that some of them aren't better than you. If you want a perfect example of a powerful muggle born, you only need to look at Rowena Ravenclaw; she was born to two perfectly non-magical people and yet she could best nearly anyone in a duel."

A seventh year student, who had been listening intently, interrupted his rant. "But if you think so, then why does everyone say you hated muggle borns?"

The ghost, who was floating comfortably over a couch, locked eyes with the girl. "There are several reasons. Godric was the one who started the rumours about me disliking muggle borns, even though he knew I was in a relationship with Rowena."

A boy raised an eyebrow. "They were just rumours that originated because of jealousy?"

Salazar looked a bit embarrassed. "Well, not completely. You have to understand that at the time the muggles knew about us and like anything that they don't understand, they wanted to destroy us. Muggle borns are just as powerful as pure bloods, but their attendance to this school opened the doors for attacks by muggles. At one time, they managed to kill seventy students before a teacher could intervene. I'm sure that you can understand that that was a very large shock to all of us, most of those students had been first and second years, and they had been under our protection and with nearly no means to defend themselves. Under those conditions, I indeed said that I wished that there were no muggle borns in our school. Of course, Rowena very quickly took me to task, but the damage was done, and Godric started to spread the rumours."

A younger student frowned up at him. "But then, what about You-Know-Who? He wants to kill all muggles and muggle borns."

Salazar's gaze moved to the young boy. "And let me assure you that if I was alive right now, I would kill the bastard with my own hands. I can't believe people consider following him and his maniacal ideas."

A fourth year girl shrugged a bit helplessly. "We are Slytherins, that's what we're expected to do."

The ghost scowled at her. "Don't speak nonsense. What does Slytherin have to do with anything?" Without giving them a chance to answer, Salazar continued. "No, don't tell me. I guess you're talking about all those fairy tales about how every Slytherin student had turned dark while the Gryffindors are the symbols of light, right? Honestly, how the wizarding community continues to exist while ruling themselves by such crap is beyond me. Or have they forgotten how four hundred years ago, Dark Lord Gwendion nearly took over? Killing more than half the wizarding community? And he sure as hell was not a Slytherin." Seeing their uncomprehending faces, the ghost finally turned to Severus, acknowledging him for the first time. "Severus, just who on earth teaches History of Magic around here? This should be fourth year material or something like that."

All students turned around sharply, only now noticing their Head of House standing behind them. Most looked uncomfortable, knowing he was a Death Eater. Ignoring them for the moment, Severus nodded to the ghost of the dead founder.

"Bins does; he's a ghost, completely obsessed with goblins and their rebellions. But I'm afraid that even if he bothered to teach wizarding history, none of the students would learn anything anyway since they sleep during his lessons."

Salazar looked pensive for a moment before floating a bit higher. "I'm going to have a chat with him, this is ridiculous."

Before he disappeared through the door, Severus spoke again, smirk firmly planted on his lips. "Do us all a favour and go right to the part in which you drive him away. It would be good to have a competent teacher for once."

The ghost returned his smirk. "I like how you think; I'll see what I can do to convince him to take some extended holidays."

"Extended as in forever?"

Salazar laughed. "Of course."

And then he disappeared, leaving Severus behind to deal with his shocked students. The silence that followed the ghost's departure was finally broken by a sixth year girl. She stood up from where she had been sitting and looked up at him intently.

"Professor, you're a Death Eater, right?" There were several gasps, coming mostly from the younger students, but the professor merely raised an eyebrow, waiting to see what the question was about. "Tell us; tell us what it's like to be a Death Eater. Tell us the truth. My parents have always told me that being a Death Eaters was the greatest honour you could ever achieve, because that way the purebloods would rule the world and make sure that our power remained as strong as it is now. They said that if muggle borns were allowed to continue living with us we would lose all of our power in the end. But how can that be right when Voldemort, who they say is the most powerful wizard of our time, is really a half blood?"

Before he had the chance to answer, Severus was interrupted by another of his students. "My parents always said that they were honouring Slytherin's will by following his heir. But now Salazar's ghost says he's disgusted with the Dark Lord, that he loathes him and everything he's doing. Please, Professor, we need to know. We no longer have the truths our parents gave us, and I think it's time that we decided what to do based on facts, not on our parents' dreams."

Severus was faced with a large problem. If he gave in and told his little snakes the truth, he would surely be foregoing his position as a spy. There was no chance that Voldemort wouldn't hear about this. And yet, here was his chance at not only redeeming himself for the crimes he had committed all those years ago, but also to save his students and turn the House of Slytherin to what it was always supposed to be. He would be able to save most of these children from the same horrible mistake he had committed in his youth. In the end, it was not difficult to decide. Settling down in an empty chair, he summoned his pensive. If he was going to do this, he was going to tell them everything and trying to shock as many of them out of the little world of power and promises their parents had built for them.

"Very well. I'm going to show you what it's like to be a Death Eaters. Anyone who doesn't wish to see, leave." When no one moved, Severus nodded. "Very well, if halfway through you feel you can no longer watch, you're also free to retire to your rooms."

Once his little speech was done, he started to draw memories and put them in his pensive. Once he was finished, he started to speak, slowly detailing every horrible thing that being a Death Eater implied. He knew that it would be too much for some of them, specially the younger ones, but if he could take them out of Voldemort's influence, he would be able to deal with the repercussions, after all, seeing was not the same as doing, and he would save his snakes from doing those gruesome deeds.

Only a quarter of the students were left when he finally finished. Most were looking slightly ill and were looking at him with disgust and fear.

"You... how could you... I can't believe..."

While his job was done, the students had been most surely turned away from Voldemort after all that, Severus realised that he was about to lose their trust and he didn't want that. He needed them to know that they could come to him if they needed to. Reluctantly, he drew a few more memories. Those were some of the many times he had reported to Albus and had been able to save some lives doing so.

When that round of memories was finished, the disgust in the children's faces had changed to awe and respect.

"You are a spy."

Snape smirked lightly. "Well, not anymore. I have no doubt that this will reach the Dark Lords ears soon enough, and right now I can't take my chances, I'm needed here."

And that realisation warmed him more than helping his students had. Alec needed him, as did Albus and Minerva, and not because he had been a spy. Standing up, he nodded to the students that were still in the common room. He had the sudden urge to return to his room and watch over Alec.

"Please, go make sure your classmates are alright. I'll ask Madam Pomfrey to give you sleeping potions if you need them, you only need to go and ask. If you wish to speak about what you saw, feel free to come to either Professor McGonagall or me. The Professor knows nearly as much as I do about what goes on in the Death Eater meeting and maybe you'll feel more comfortable talking to her."

Nodding at them, he left the common room and went back to his quarters, hoping he had done the right thing.

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta, Vinnie.


	32. Awakening

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

After entering his chambers, Severus only stopped long enough to warn Poppy about his Slytherins before abruptly entering his room. Minerva looked up surprised at his sudden entrance, but he paid her no heed.

He had been sure he was doing the right thing a while ago, but now doubts had started to surface. Ignoring the questioning gaze that was following his every move, Severus threw his outer robe to the floor and sank into the free chair that had been placed next to the bed were Alec was still sleeping peacefully.

Minerva closed the book she had been reading and looked at her colleague intently, she could see he was troubled but didn't understand what could have happened to put him in this state.

"What happened, Severus? Is there anything wrong?"

The man snapped his head up and looked at her as if he was noticing her presence for the first time.

"Wrong? No... Well, maybe... I didn't think it was wrong... but now I'm not sure."

Shaking her head, the woman looked at him in amusement. "Have you been taking lessons from Albus? You certainly are making as much sense as he usually does."

That remark made Severus chuckle and calm down slightly. He knew he needed to tell her, but he was half afraid she would consider what he had done a horrible mistake. Finally, he took in a deep breath and quietly explained everything that had happened that evening, adding only his previous meeting with Salazar. The only thing he didn't mention was the truth about Alec. He didn't think Minerva would mind much about the boy being Harry, but he had made a promise, and he intended to keep it for as long as he could.

When he finished his story, he sat back in his chair and finally looked up at the woman sitting on the other side of the bed. He was rather surprised when he saw a very pleased smile on her face instead of the condemning look he had been expecting.

"That's such wonderful news, Severus. To think that you may have managed to save all those children from such a horrible mistake."

While pleased by her words, he had to tell her of the consequences of his actions, it didn't seem to have dawned on her yet. "Firstly, we don't know if that will be enough, after all, it's going against everything they have been taught since they were babies. And second, you realise I may have blown up my cover right? This will reach Voldemort's ears, one way or another, and then there will be hell to pay."

The woman moved so suddenly that Severus barely saw her. In an instant she was standing in front of him, hands firmly on his shoulders and leaning down to look him in the eyes.

"If you think, for one single second, that you're going back to that monster, you better forget it before I make you. You did what you had to and there are no maybes in this, Severus, Voldemort will find out and will know that you are a traitor; if you go to him, you will be killed, and that wouldn't do any of us any good. We need you here, you're one of the only ones around here able to keep a cool head when things go wrong, there's no way in hell we can do this without you."

Snape calmly put a hand on one of hers, squeezing it reassuringly. Her words had warmed him in a way few things had before and while he knew she was exaggerating a bit, it felt very nice. "Thank you, Minerva. And don't worry, I wasn't planning on going."

The witch gave a satisfied nod and backed away. "Good, I'll leave you with Alec now; I need to make an appearance in the Great Hall and see how everything is going. And we still need to deal with the students of the fifth house. Most of them will be ready to be released from the hospital wing tomorrow."

Severus nodded. "Is there anything you need me to do?"

The woman shook her head lightly. "No, don't worry; the other teachers will probably deal with most of it."

The Potions Master nodded and after reminding her that the Slytherin students may come to her to talk, he showed her out. When he returned to the bedroom, there was a tray full of food waiting for him, and taking the obvious hint, he sat down and ate his dinner. The evening passed quietly. He read and marked papers on a desk he had placed next to the bed.

He was about to finish with the fourth year papers when a sound coming from the bed attracted his attention. Looking towards it, he saw that the teen was starting to show signs of waking. Silently, he stood up and moved to sit next to the boy, who, at the same time, opened his sleepy eyes.

"Uncle Severus?"

His voice was slightly hoarse, and Snape let him sip on a summoned cup filled with water. Once he was done, Alec lay back down and looked around him curiously.

"Where are we?"

Severus gently caressed his cheek. "We're in my rooms. Do you remember what happened?"

The boy frowned for a minute, before his eyes flew wide open and he tried to sit up on the bed. A gentle hand prevented him from completing the movement and firmly pushed him back into the pillows.

"Don't even think about it, you're in no shape to be running around yet."

Harry blinked up at the man. "But what about Granddad? Is he...?"

He didn't dare finish the question, afraid he would receive bad news from the man. Seeing his anxiousness, Severus gently caressed his cheek. "He's fine, or as fine as possible right now. Whatever it was you did saved his life, and it looks like he's going to make it."

Feeling very relieved at the man's words, Harry started to relax and his eyes dropped again. He was about to fall back asleep, when Severus shook him gently. "Alec, try to stay awake for a bit; I want Madam Pomfrey to take a look at you, and you need to eat something."

The boy grumbled lightly under his breath but he made an effort to push sleep out of his mind. When he was more or less sure that the teen would remain awake, Severus left the room for a moment to summon the nurse and ask some food from a house elf. Ten minutes later, he was back next to Harry's bedside. The boy was starring at the ceiling intently, as if it was the most interesting thing that existed. The poor child looked like he was about to loose his battle against sleep, but luckily that was when the nurse arrived.

Poppy immediately set out to examine him, talking all the time to keep him awake. Once she was done, she turned to Severus, who had been waiting with the soup the house elves had brought.

"Give him that and then put him to bed, I'll be waiting in your office so we can talk."

Snape just nodded and went to sit on the bed next to the half sleeping child. Grabbing the boy so that he was now leaning against his shoulder, he gently fed him. They were halfway through when Alec finally wasn't able to remain awake and between to bites of soup he drifted off. Chuckling lightly, Severus arranged him comfortably on the bed and went to join the nurse.

He was slightly surprised to not find the woman alone. Minerva was sitting in one of his comfortable seats and both witches were drinking tea.

Poppy looked up and smiled at him when he silently closed the door behind him.

"Is he asleep?"

Severus nodded and sat down, taking a fresh cup of tea. "He was out like a light before he even finished his soup."

Minerva shook her head, clearly amused even if she was worried. "How is he doing, Poppy?"

The nurse looked pensive for a moment before answering. "Quite well considering what he did. I talked to the staff at St. Mungo's; while they don't know exactly what he did, they were able to give me a quite accurate account of the things he healed. It's impressive, a few of the mediwizards think he might be a natural healer, but I don't think so."

At Minerva's raised eyebrow, she elaborated. "Firstly, they are very rare. There hasn't been one for the last hundred years and even if I can't completely sure, he doesn't really show the signs. Natural healers don't only heal others, they also heal themselves, and Alec doesn't seem to do that. Besides, I can't believe that his parents wouldn't notice or at least Albus, such a thing is very noticeable, especially as a child and with Alec's power, I doubt he would ever have been hurt or playing, and that is the kind of things wizards are taught to notice when they get children."

Personally, Poppy thought that the last reasoning was fairly stupid; it wasn't like those horrible muggles would have noticed anything. But the many times that young Potter had been in her infirmary were enough to convince her that Harry might be many things, but a natural healer was not one of them. For his part, Severus was thinking much along the same line, with the many visits that Alec had done to the hospital wing, there was no way he could be a healer.

"If he isn't a healer, then what happened Poppy?"

The woman looked pensive for a moment before answering. "I may be mistaken, since I wasn't there to begin with. But some of the doctors agree with me and it certainly is more probable than the natural healer theory." Seeing the impatient looks, she sighed quietly. "I think it might have been an extreme case of wish magic."

Minerva nearly jumped out of her seat. "That's impossible, Poppy. Only very young children have wish magic, and at most they are able to summon a toy, certainly not heal the injuries Albus had."

Poppy nodded in agreement. "I know that, but to start with, Alec is much more powerful than a normal child, especially a little child. I scanned him during the summer and while most of his power is still untapped, I wouldn't be surprised if he became as powerful as Albus when he grows. Secondly, a child will only wish for a toy because that is what he really wants. There have been cases in which a child has been able to apparate away from extreme danger or to stop something unpleasant to happen to his parents. There are not many of those cases, but it has happened before."

While Minerva still looked sceptical, to Severus that made perfect sense. Of course, it probably made more sense if you knew that Alec was Harry, and if he were to believe the rumours, Harry had done things like that practically his whole childhood. He still was amused of the tale he had heard about the boy's aunt a few years ago. Looking at Poppy, he wondered for the first time if the nurse was aware of the truth. It would make sense for her to be one of the only ones able to spot the deception. After all, while Albus could change the outer appearance of Harry, he hardly was going to change the boy's inside or his magical core, and the nurse would be familiar with both after the years.

Shaking his head lightly, he turned to his Gryffindor colleague and decided to help Poppy out.

"I think she might have a point. Remember about the wards? Even Albus couldn't explain it, and it would fit perfectly in Poppy's wish magic theory."

This seemed to be enough to convince the Gryffindor Head of House. Nodding, she turned her attention back to Poppy. "Ok, we know what probably happened, but what about Alec? Does he need special care? How long will it take for him to get back to normal?"

The nurse shrugged lightly. "I would say to just leave him have a few days rest and then he'll be able to join the students again." Turning to Severus she added. "He doesn't need to be in bed all the time, he can get up if he feels like it, just make sure there's someone around him in case he has a relapse."

Snape nodded lightly. And after the three of them talked for a while longer, the two women left him alone. After checking that Alec was still peacefully asleep, Severus went to the living room, leaving the bedroom's door ajar, and settled down to read until it was time to sleep.


	33. You know

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

The next few days passed peacefully. Severus spent nearly all his time with Alec, making sure the boy wouldn't overwork himself. While the boy had wanted to visit his grandfather nearly from the moment he woke, both Severus and Poppy agreed that it wouldn't do him any good right now. While the old man wasn't getting worse, he hadn't woken up either, and it was starting to really frustrate his doctors.

That morning, Severus had allowed Alec to go up to the Great Hall for lunch with him. Even though the Potions Master had insisted he sat with the teachers at their table, Harry couldn't have been more relieved. He had hated being cooped up in the professor's rooms, and no amount of pleading had got him out of them. He suspected he had even managed to make Severus cross at him more than once, which had caused him to back off. The last thing he needed was the older man mad at him.

Halfway through lunch, Alec was wishing he was back to the Potions Master's rooms. The students hadn't stopped looking to him since he first sat down between his aunt and uncle, and it was finally starting to get on his nerves. He was about to ask his uncle if they could leave, seeing that the man had finished, when a lone raven appeared through the window the owls usually used at breakfast. All the teachers frowned lightly, they had all spotted the dark envelope that the bird carried and were wondering what it might be about.

The raven didn't go to anyone, instead it flew to the door that led out of the Great Hall and landed in front of it. As soon as the bird touched the floor, dark smoke started to come out of the envelope. Most teachers stood up, wands in hand, ready to handle whatever it was that the mysterious raven had brought. Alec also stood up, and while he didn't have a wand, his hand was starting to glow faintly in preparation for what might come.

The smoke rose over their heads, and a face appeared in it. It was a horrible face; bright, cruel red eyes peered at them all from a snake like face. Snape hissed under his breath, this couldn't be good. Alec, who was standing at his side, tensed, his face going blank as his power flared a bit more around him. Before anyone had the chance to say a word, the horrible figure spoke.

"That was ridiculously easy. Be happy I have no interests in entering the school right now or you would be defenceless."

The students slowly started to understand just who was talking to them and scared whimpers could be heard across the large rooms. All teachers were frozen in place, watching attentively for the monster to try to do something, but Voldemort seemed content to just talk.

"It really is pathetic that the supposedly most defended school in the whole country losses all its power when one man is missing." His horrible face twisted into a cruel grin. "And speaking about Dumbledore, I really hope he is enjoying his new quarters. Not that he'll be able to enjoy them for much longer, really, I'm sure he's eager to go ahead and face his next adventure as he put it. And don't worry, I'm planning to help him along."

Realisation started to dawn in the teachers' faces, and most of them started to tremble. The thought of the headmaster, injured and defenceless in the hands of that monster was terrifying. Obviously not minding their terrified looks, the Dark Lord continued with his speech.

"Of course, I'm willing to negotiate. After all, as much of a danger as the old man was, there is one other that I want more." His face became as hard as stone and the red eyes glittered madly. "Give me Potter. I do not believe for a moment that none of you know where he is. I want him within two days. If he hasn't stepped out of the wards before the second day has gone by I will kill the old man in the cruellest way possible." He seemed to think for a bit and then grinned madly. "Or maybe I will force him to witness as this school is destroyed and all his precious children killed. We'll see; it doesn't matter right now. Knowing Potter, he will be in my hands before the two days have passed."

Snape's mind was working furiously, trying to put away his shock and find a solution to the terrible situation they found themselves in. He was trying to think of a way to track Voldemort down when a movement at his side distracted him. Alec had turned around and was about to step away from them. Knowing what the child was about to do, Snape quickly gripped his shoulders, turned him around, and pressed him against his side.

Furious blue eyes glared up at him, and he just stared down at him sternly. "And just where do you think you're going, young man?"

His voice was a mere whisper, but it carried the annoyance, concern, and fear that the older wizard felt. "Let go, I need to get out."

Snape's face was a mask. "Oh, no you don't. You're not going anywhere."

Harry tugged at the hands that were holding him. "You don't understand."

Snape, seeing that the boy was about to get lose and not wanting to draw more attention to them, picked the child up and forced him to lay against his chest. In an even softer whisper than he had used so that only the child would hear, the Potions Master said:

"I understand perfectly alright, Mr. Potter."

Severus felt the child freeze in his arms. Looking down he was met with scared blue eyes.

"You know."

There didn't come sound out of the boy's mouth, but Severus was able to read his lips just fine. Maybe he shouldn't have told Alec that he knew this way, but at least he could concentrate back to what Voldemort was saying. When he lifted his gaze, his eyes met Voldemort's and he couldn't suppress a shudder. The man seemed to notice this and his grin grew even more horrible.

"I'm almost wishing that the Potter boy doesn't show up. It would give me great pleasure if Dumbledore saw his grandson tortured in front of his eyes."

Severus stepped back a bit, drawing Alec closer to him. The child was trembling, but he didn't know if it was because of Voldemort's words or because of the revelation that he knew his secret.

As the smoke still coming from the envelope grew lighter, Voldemort turned his gaze to one of the tables. "Come to me, my children. Hogwarts is about to fall, there's nothing more you can get from it. A few of my loyal ones are waiting outside for you to take you where you belong. It is time for you to take your place at my side and to learn everything you still need to know."

Almost before the Dark Lord was finished with his little speech, Draco Malfoy had jumped out of his chair and was sauntering to the doors, a smirk proudly drawn on his face. Behind him, his two stupid gorillas were walking, probably not understanding what was going on.

Severus' heart nearly broke as one after another of his Slytherins started to stand and follow the blond. When the last Slytherin had made it out of the door, the smoke cleared completely, leaving only the corpse of a raven behind.

Severus, with Alec still in his arms, collapsed in his chair. He had failed, he had tried to draw his children to the light and he had failed. As the students and teachers around him started to move and show their distress, Severus could only think about the little children that had been under his care. Merlin knew what kind of life awaited them now. Bitterly, he amended that thought, Voldemort had Dumbledore under his power, and now all the hope they had rested on the shoulders of the child that was trembling against him.

Trying to put his mind to better use, he turned his attention to Alec. The child had closed his eyes and was gripping his robes tightly.

"Alec?"

Blue eyes looked up at him. The sadness in them nearly overwhelmed him. "Professor? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have... but Grand... I mean the headmaster... he said..."

Severus gently put a finger against his thin, pale lips. "Not now, my child. This is neither the place nor the moment to talk about it. And its Uncle Severus, remember?"

Alec blinked in surprise. "You... you're not angry?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Let me assure you I'm way more angry with you for trying to sneak away than for posing as the headmaster's grandson."

Before Harry had the chance to answer, Minerva approached them. The other teachers were trying to calm and organise the remaining students but weren't having much luck so far.

"Severus, I've sent Professor Sinistra to the hospital to check on Albus, but I don't have much hope."

The younger man nodded in agreement. "Who was supposed to be there?"

Minerva sighed. "Remus and Pomona were there; I hope they're alright. Filius has gone to warn the aurors, I expect some of them here soon." Turning to the boy still cradled in the Potions Master arms, she bend down a bit. "Alec? Are you alright?"

The boy shook his head and buried his face in Severus' shoulder. The older man sighed. "Maybe I should take him to the dungeons and give him a sleeping potion. This is not good for him."

Minerva, who had been watching the two men carefully, noticed the pained expression that crossed the Slytherin head of house's face when he talked about the dungeons. She knew that he was thinking about his students. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she squeezed it gently, trying to comfort her younger colleague. "It's not your fault, Severus. You did everything you could to help those children. It was wistful thinking that you could..."

Whatever it was that she wanted to say, she didn't get the chance. The doors to the Great Hall banged open and a few bodies were thrown to the floor. Both Severus and Minerva watched entranced as the white mask fell from one of the Death Eaters lying out cold on the ground. Slowly, both teachers looked up and were faced with a large group of Slytherins that were looking back at them smugly.

A seventh year Slytherin smirked at their surprised expressions. When he spoke, it was clear that he was only talking to Severus. "Oy, Professor. You didn't honestly think we were going to join that crazy half-blood, did you?"

Another girl nodded besides him. "Yeah, we're Slytherins, not idiot; we have our pride, and we bow to no one."

A third student, younger than the former two, took over. "Besides, Hogwarts is our home just as much as it is to other students; none of us want it destroyed."

A small girl looked up at Severus, bright eyes smiling up at him. "And we couldn't betray you like this. You are the father we never had, you take care of us, what would we do without you?"

All the other Slytherins, even the oldest, were nodding in agreement. There was a tense silence for a moment and then two students of Ravenclaw stood up and started to clap. Slowly they were joined by other students, and even the Gryffindors stood up to join the ovation. Severus, overwhelmed by the words his little snakes had uttered in front of everyone, buried his face in Alec's shoulder.

The small boy, understanding that his uncle needed some comfort, quickly hugged the man tightly. And while he could feel wet tears soaking his shoulder, Harry was sure that there was a real, proud smile on the Potions Master's usually stern face. As all the teachers joined the students in applauding the Slytherins, Minerva placed a hand on Severus' shoulder.

"Well done, my friend, well done. Hogwarts is one again."

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie.


	34. Planning

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

The prefects and some of the professors took the students to their common rooms. They thought it would be better to have them out of their way when the aurors arrived. The Death Eaters and the few students that had really intended to join Voldemort, were still lying unconscious on the floor of the Great Hall, waiting for them to be questioned. Severus, after talking shortly with Minerva, stood up with Alec still firmly tucked against him and followed his Slytherins to the dungeons.

Once they arrived at the portrait that led to the Slytherin common room, Severus nodded slightly to them. "Wait for me in the common room, I'll be right back."

Once that was said, the man walked deeper into the dungeons to his own rooms. He wanted to talk to his Slytherins, but he somehow doubted they would be comfortable with him talking to them in front of Alec.

Once he entered the large room, he put Alec down and looked at him intently. The boy was looking down at the floor, refusing to meet his eyes. Sighing, the Professor bent down on one knee, forcing the student to look him in the eye.

"Can I trust you to stay in here on your own and not to run away at the slightest chance?"

While Severus admitted that Alec was a very good actor and could misdirect people at his hearts content, especially when he had Dumbledore's backing up; he was not such a good liar. Snape was used to look for direct lies, and the teen's eyes immediately revealed the boy's true feelings on the matter even is he was shaking his head yes.

Sighing, the man shook his head. "I would appreciate it if you didn't lie to me like that." Feeling the boy wince, he sighed and stood up. "Come with me."

Reluctantly, Alec followed his uncle down to his bedroom. Once there he was ordered to get into bed. A look to the man's stern face told him there was no chance of him getting out of it, so he silently complied with the man's wishes. When he was safely tucked in bed, Severus handed him a potion. At once he recognised the sleeping potion. Knowing his magic wouldn't be able to fight against the effects, Harry turned his head away.

"I don't want it."

Snape frowned down at him. "But you need it, and not only because I want to make sure you stay put. Madam Pomfrey told us you had to take it easy, and today certainly didn't match that description. So, open up, because I don't really want to force you but I will if I need to."

Knowing that the man never made idle threats, Harry resigned himself and took the potion. He wanted to go out of the school, to save Dumbledore as the man had saved him. But he knew that with Snape watching him as he did, he wouldn't have the chance.

Severus stayed at the child's side for a long moment, making sure he was truly asleep. After that, he summoned a house elf and told him to make sure that the boy didn't leave the room should he awake.

Once that was taken care of, he headed to the Slytherin common room. After entering the room he remained at the door, waiting for them all to notice him while looking carefully over them. Once most of them had noticed his presence, he spoke.

"Firstly, is anyone injured?"

A few students groaned lightly, causing him to narrow his eyes. Finally one of the seventh years answered him. "Nothing serious, Professor. Just a few bumps and bruises and one or two cuts. We took them by surprise, and they didn't have much of a chance to fight back."

Snape nodded. "Madam Pomfrey is going to be down here in a bit, I want everyone that was hurt to let her treat you, understood?"

More groans came from the students, but they nodded in agreement. The potions master's eyes softened as he looked over them.

"I don't think I have ever been prouder of my little snakes as I am today. You have brought our house honour and glory, something that was long needed. By doing what you did, you've proved that you are just as much a member of the Hogwarts family as any of the other students and with your selfless actions, you have brought Hogwarts together once more."

While most students looked embarrassed, a fifth year snorted softly. "Yeah, right, selfless my arse. We just didn't want to join the nutter."

Severus chuckled along with most of the students. "Ah, well, there's no need to let the rest of the school know about that, now is there?"

More chuckles, a fourth year looked at him. "What's going to happen now, Professor? What will be done about Professor Dumbledore? Is Potter going to come back?"

Severus shook his head. "I don't know. I'm sure that by now the aurors are questioning the Death Eaters, and maybe they know where Professor Dumbledore is being held. After that, I don't know what we'll decide to do."

A first year approached him timidly. "Do you think the Dark Lord is going to hurt the Headmaster because of us?"

Severus frowned and the gently ruffled her hair. "I don't know, but do you really think that Professor Dumbledore would prefer you to join Voldemort to being hurt by him? I have known the Professor for many years, and don't doubt for an instant that he would sacrifice his life for one single student. So, don't feel guilty for doing the right thing."

The students were nodding, most of the younger ones looking relieved, when Poppy entered the room. After nodding to Severus, she immediately took charge of the large number of students who looked resigned at being poked and prodded. Severus, smiling slightly as all his charges were led to their rooms so that Poppy could look over them comfortably, left the room to go back to his own quarters.

Once he had made sure that Alec was still deeply asleep and would remain so for a few hours, the Potions Master made his way back to the Great Hall. There were already a few aurors in there and it seemed they had just finished questioning one of the Death Eaters under veritaserum.

Seeing him approach, Minerva motioned him to her side. When Severus reached her side, he motioned towards the unconscious men.

"Have they said anything useful?"

The deputy headmistress looked thoughtful. "They don't know where Voldemort's base is, but they had portkeys to bring the children there." She motioned over to a table were several aurors were bending over, looking at something. "They're trying to track down where they led to. If they don't manage that, we may have to take them directly."

Severus frowned. "Voldemort might have guessed what has happened by now, if we use the portkeys, we'll most likely land in a trap."

Minerva pursed her lips. "I know, but what else can we do? No one knows where Harry is, and even if we knew, there would be no way we could put him in that kind of danger."

The Potions Master frowned. Should he tell her the truth? He agreed with her that they wouldn't use Harry, but the boy had other ideas and he could hardly keep him drugged for the next two days. Minerva might be able to help him to keep the child here. Sighing, Severus rubbed his eyes.

"I know where he is."

The Gryffindor teacher looked up at him sharply. She took his arm in a firm grip and drew him to a corner so that no one would overhear.

"What did you say?"

Severus looked down at her calmly. "I said that I know where Harry is."

Narrowing her eyes, the woman demanded. "Did Albus know? Who else knows?"

The man sighed. "Of course Albus knew. And as far as I can guess, only Amanda, Chris and maybe Poppy know." Looking at her intently, he added. "Albus didn't tell me, if that's what you're wondering; he doesn't even know that I know."

Minerva narrowed her eyes, but in a way she felt reassured that the old man hadn't confided in either of them. It would have hurt if Severus had been told but not her. Dismissing those jealous thoughts, she turned to the matter on hand. "Where is he then? Is he safe?"

Snape snorted lightly. "Right now I have him drugged, sleeping in my bed. He wanted to leave, the little fool."

Slowly, realisation started to dawn in her eyes, and Severus noticing this, nodded in encouragement. "Alec..."

Smiling slightly, the man shook his head. "Amazing, isn't it? The two of them have been playing us for months and neither of us suspected anything." Seeing the woman frown, he quietly added: "Don't be too upset, Minerva, they did it to protect the child, and you have to admit no one could have done a better job of it had they tried."

Sighing, the witch nodded. "I know." Looking up at him, she raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you can still get along with the child after finding out such a thing."

Severus grimaced. "The one who told me forced me to get over my hate for James and look at Harry as he is. I realised that Alec is probably the closest thing to Harry that I have ever known."

She was spared an answer when Serena entered the large room. Ignoring the aurors, she immediately headed to where they were standing.

Minerva nodded at her in greeting. "How are Remus and Pomona doing?"

The woman sighed sadly. "They were both quite badly injured, but the staff at St. Mungos assured me they will be fine in a few weeks. It seems they put up quite a fight, but the Death Eaters that took Albus managed to put up wards to keep others away so help didn't arrive in time. We're lucky that Albus' niece and her husband weren't there at the time."

Severus nodded in agreement. "Have they been informed?"

Sinistra nodded. "Yes, I went to tell them. They should be warning the rest of the family right now."

Her two companions nodded but instead of talking again, they watched as an auror approached them. Kingsley smiled tiredly. "We think we've been able to locate the place where the portkeys are directed at. We need to act quickly before Voldemort had the chance to move away." Looking at them, he added. "Will you be coming with us? We haven't had the chance to gather many people, so all help would be appreciated. But it's going to be dangerous."

Snape scoffed at the thought. "Of course we're coming, or at least some of us are, try to stop us."

The auror chuckled lightly. He had always appreciated the man's sarcastic words; they were a wonderful way to calm him down. "I'll go and get the others ready. We'll be going in an hour."

As Kingsley turned around, a ghost popped in existence next to them, startling them quite a bit.

Severus blinked in surprise. "Salazar! Don't do that!"

The ghost merely raised an eyebrow. "I merely wanted to warn you that the young one is starting to show signs of waking."

Cursing softly under his breath, the Potions Master turned around, ready to go back to his rooms. A soft voice stopped him dead in his tracks. "Severus." When the younger man turned to face the ghost, Slytherin spoke. "I know he's very young and that you want to protect him, but it would be good for you if you took him with you." He raised a transparent hand to halt the protests. "Look, I don't know if you realise, but Alec is extremely powerful and knows very well how to use that power. I myself have been training him even though there was quite little I could teach him by the time I met him. If you want to win this war, you will have to allow him to do his part. Without him, you don't stand much of a chance." Then he smirked lightly. "Besides, unless you tie him down somewhere, there's no way that you'll keep him here, and it would be better for him to go with some back up, wouldn't it?"

Without another word, the ghost disappeared. Snape sighed softly and once again turned to go, only this time he was stopped by a female voice. "Do you think he's right, Severus?"

The younger man turned lightly so he could watch the Gryffindor Head of House. "I hate to admit it, Minerva, but he probably is. Alec is powerful, and no matter how many of us go face the Dark Lord, we can't match his power. The only opportunity would be to sneak in and out, but it's unlikely that we succeed, especially since he will be waiting for us."

Not giving them a chance to comment, Severus finally left the room.

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie.


	35. On the way

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

When Severus entered his bedroom, he saw Alec sitting up in bed and engaged in a silent glaring contest with the house elf he had left to take care of him. The boy looked up when he heard the door, his glare immediately died when he saw who was standing there, and his gaze moved down to the covers that were still lying over his legs.

Snape approached the bed and, after dismissing the house elf, sat down in the chair that had taken permanent residence besides the bed. "I thought I had made it clear that you weren't going to put yourself in danger, didn't I?"

Alec nodded reluctantly. "But Granddad..."

"Would have killed the lot of us if we had allowed you to leave, and you know that as good as we do."

Harry knew that he was right. He knew that Dumbledore would have grounded him just for trying to do something as foolish to get out so that Voldemort could get his hands on him. But the problem was that Dumbledore wasn't there to ground him. He was trapped by an insane maniac and who knew if he were still alive. It was taking everything he had to not just curse Snape and leave.

Seemingly reading his mind, Severus quickly started to speak.

"We have found a way to get to Voldemort, one that doesn't involve you being captured. Against our best judgement, we have been advised to take you along. But if you decide to come, you will have to promise me a few things first."

Harry looked up at him warily, he trusted the man without a doubt, but he refused to stand back and watch as the others fought. Of course, he admitted that there were very few things that could hold him back and that going with the others would be much safer, so he settled down to listen to what the man had to say.

Seeing the quiet acceptance, Severus started to list his demands. "Firstly and most important, you will always remain at my side. I don't care what happens, I want you to stay close to me. Should something happen to me, you will go search for the nearest auror or professor and stay with them. No running around on your own."

Harry was frowning. "You don't honestly expect me to leave you alone if you're injured."

The older man looked down at him sternly. "This isn't about me; I want you to be safe. So, yes, if I was to be injured, I want you to leave me be and look for someone else. I don't want you to be left on your own in the midst of Death Eaters. And the last rule, I will give you a portkey, should you be injured, I want you to portkey back immediately. Is that clear?"

Alec was about to shake his head, he certainly didn't agree with the second rule. But one look at the man's face told him clearly that he either agreed or that he would be staying behind. He hoped that the man would be alright, because he really didn't want to break his promise to him as he knew he would not leave the man alone. Sighing, the boy nodded quietly.

Severus frowned down at him. "Promise me, Harry."

The boy finally looked up at him. "I promise."

About half an hour later, a large group was formed in the Great Hall. They were mostly aurors, who had continued to ignore Fudge's orders to not intervene in Hogwart's matters because they thought it was the perfect chance to get rid of as many Death Eaters as possible and had come to help out.

The teachers were standing a bit separated from the main group. A few seventh years had insisted on going with them, and while they could force the youngest to remain behind, those of them that were of age could do as they wished, despite their professor's disagreement.

The youngest of the group, by far, was Alec. Severus had told him that he should go as the Headmaster's grandson, this way the Death Eaters wouldn't pay so much attention to him.

Resigned, Alec allowed the older man to put a dark cloak around him and then turned his attention to the proceedings. It had been decided that the first group would use a portkey and once they arrived, they would send out a magical surge that would allow the rest of the wizards to apparate to where they were. This would have to happen very quickly since they were expecting a welcoming committee to be there to greet them upon arrival.

The small group that would be using the portkeys led the way outside. They needed to be all out of the wards so they would not waste time to get to Voldemort's lair. Harry walked silently between Severus and Minerva. The two adults had agreed to keep the teen close to them, neither wanted him there, but now that Minerva knew the truth, she agreed that it might be the chance they had been waiting for. Just before they all passed under the wards, Alec stopped short, a pensive look over his face as he narrowed his eyes. His hand shot out and clutched Severus', who stopped to see what was wrong.

"Alec?"

The boy tilted his head slightly. "They have put something over the wards. As soon as I cross them, Voldemort will know I have left the castle."

The Potions Master frowned darkly. He hadn't thought of that, and they certainly didn't need to warn Voldemort that they were on their way. Minerva shot them a questioning look and walked back the few paces that brought them to their side.

"What's wrong?"

Sighing, her colleague explained their worries and the three of them stood quietly, contemplating what they could do about it. Severus was about to suggest that they better leave Alec behind, when a ghost appeared in front of them. At first, the Slytherin thought it was Salazar, but soon he recognised the Ravenclaw ghost. The transparent woman paid the two adults no heed and instead focussed her attention to their young companion.

"I have a message from the Lady to you, young Ravenclaw."

Harry nodded and waited patiently for her to elaborate. Some of the others were now looking at the trio, wondering why they weren't moving. Unperturbed by all this, the ghost continued. "She tells you to remember your lessons with her. Your abilities to shield your mind can be applied to your magic. You should be able to mask your presence easily since you usually already do it subconsciously."

Those words surprised the boy. "I do? What does she mean by that?"

The ghost's shimmering eyes looked at him intently. "Young one, you have an enormous power, you know that, you've been training to control it for months. But not many people can sense it. Ask anyone around here how strong you really are, and they will probably consider you a rather common wizard. Since you were a child you have masked most of your power, now you only need to extend that mask a bit more so that it covers you completely."

Alec looked a bit lost. What the ghost said made sense, but he wasn't sure he would be able to pull it off. He hadn't even managed to completely shield his mind, how was he supposed to extend the same concept to his magic? He was about to question the ghost again when a warm hand came to rest on his shoulder. Looking up, he came face to face with his former head of house.

"Alec, while I don't know much about shielding a mind, I learned a long time ago how to shield my magic. It was an old trick Dumbledore used to teach those of us involved in the war against Grindewald, since he wanted to destroy the most powerful wizards so they couldn't fight against him." Squeezing the thin shoulder gently, she closed her eyes. "Close your eyes, Child, I'll show you what you need to do."

Reassured that someone was guiding him now, the boy complied with her orders and followed her lead. He soon found himself in what he had come to recognise as his mind. The room was exactly like he remembered it, peaceful and beautiful. The only thing that was different was the small tabby cat sitting next to the glowing orb. Recognising his professor, he raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to tell him what he should do.

To his surprise, she jumped down from the table and moved to a side of the room. There was a large painting there, and unlike the peaceful atmosphere that surrounded them, it was showing a rather violent thunderstorm. Frowning, he reached out and was about to touch it when a soft voice touched his mind.

"Careful, Child. Behind this painting rests all your power and it is through the images of this painting that it comes out of this chamber for you to use. What you need to do is try to change the feeling of it. Your power represents thunder, try to calm it, and try to mold the picture so it shows something else. But be careful, should you change it too much from its true nature, you might lock it in and that would be very bad."

For a few long moments, Harry contemplated the picture, he needed to change it. The only question was what should he transform it into? Suddenly, inspiration struck. Putting both hands on the painting, he concentrated very hard on the image he had seen in one of Salazar's books. Ever so slowly, the picture of the thunderstorm started to change. In its wake, a body was formed.

Minerva looked curiously, trying to not make any noise that could break the boy's concentration. She could barely contain a gasp of surprise when she saw a large dragon moving under the boy's hands. She recognised it from the few times Hagrid had talked of them to her. There were myths that said that a really strange breed of dragons lived in thunderstorms. They travelled with them and fed themselves from the electricity formed in there.

The images Hagrid had showed her were mostly guesses to what they might look like, but Minerva was sure that that was what Harry had been aiming for when he started. When the wings were finally formed, the child opened his eyes and looked satisfied at the large dragon. It had started to move around, thunder still crackling around him. Turning around, the boy looked intently to his professor.

"Do you think that will be enough?"

The tabby rubbed her head lightly against his legs and the gentle voice once again ran through his mind. "I'm sure it will be more than enough, Harry."

The boy frowned and lowered his eyes.

"Uncle Sev told you."

The cat looked up at him and nodded. "He had to; it was too dangerous for him to keep this from me. But don't worry, no one else knows yet." Smirking slightly, or at least Harry thought that was a smirk on the cat's face, the woman continued. "And what did Severus tell you would happen if you ever called him Uncle Sev?"

The child chuckled lightly. "I think that he would make me clean cauldrons no matter what I called him if it started with Uncle."

The cat frowned lightly. "You can't seriously think that, Harry. Everyone can see that the man cares deeply about you; he has known for several days, and in those days he has continued to keep care of you. Do you really think that he would have done that had he been angry with you?"

Harry shrugged lightly. He knew she was right about Severus taking care of him. But if there was one thing Harry had learned from the man, that was that he had a deep feeling of responsibility and that once he had promised Dumbledore that he would take care of him, the man wouldn't back out.

The gentle voice pulled him out of his morose thoughts. "Now is not the time to start doubting him, Harry. He cares enough to keep you safe and comfort you when you need it. Everything else you'll have to work out with him when all this mess is over." The tabby cocked her head as if listening for something and then spoke again. "Come on, let's get out of here. I'm sure Severus is growing impatient."

With those words, the room started to fade and Harry opened his eyes. He was immediately pulled in a warm embrace.

"Are you alright?"

Smiling slightly up at the man holding him, the teen nodded. "I'm fine, everything went alright."

Looking at the Gryffindor head of house, the man nodded and then turned to where the others had finished their preparations.

"Come on, they are waiting for us."

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie.


	36. The heir of Slytherin

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

The first group left as soon as everyone was standing outside the wards. Severus was standing just behind Alec, with a hand clasped firmly on his shoulder. The boy could have told him he was able to apparate on his own, but he decided against it since it was doubtful that he would have been allowed to go on his own anyway. Not even a minute had passed when Harry felt the magical signal. Frowning a bit, he tugged at Severus' hand. "Why aren't we moving?"

The man blinked down at him. "We're waiting for the signal, Alec."

Before the boy was able to reply, some of the wizards started to feel the magical wave and followed it. Sighing down at the boy, understanding that Harry had felt the magic earlier than them, the professor simply shook his head and apparated them away.

They appeared in the middle of a vicious duel. There were nearly two hundred Death Eaters, and they were all casting Unforgivables, not giving their enemies a chance to survive if they were touched. Harry felt Severus start to curse everyone in sight, but while he remained at his side as promised, he didn't pay attention to the fight. Instead, his eyes quickly flew around the room, trying to find either Dumbledore or Voldemort. He finally found both of them. The Dark Lord was sitting in a large, throne-like chair, looking over the fight with a small, amused smile.

The hatred Alec felt for the man became even more intense when he saw his grandfather, shackled to the wall with chains, clearly still unconscious from whatever it was that had been done to him. He had been so intent on the frail figure of his headmaster that he didn't notice the Death Eater approaching him from the side. Severus' cry of warning was the only thing that saved him from certain death. In an instant, Harry had turned around to face his opponent and not even thinking about wands, he send the man flying away from him. The soft thud he heard was enough to tell him that the man wouldn't stand up for a while so he centred his attention back to the other black robbed men.

Several Death Eaters had obviously thought he would be an easy target, as it was obvious that he was very young, but he quickly disabused them of that notion by sending several of them flying around and cursing the rest into submission. Unluckily, his actions drew the attention from the man sitting on the throne. Harry had just dealt with another Death Eater when his eyes, still hidden under the cloak, suddenly locked with the blood red eyes of his long time enemy.

The fight around him continued, but the teen didn't care anymore. There he was, the one who had hurt his family, his real one and his pretended one. The one man who had taken more from him than any other ever had. His hatred grew even more and not caring about rules anymore, he started to advance towards him. Severus was too occupied with trying to keep himself alive to look at his charge, so Harry had no trouble to walk to the other side of the room. So now and then, the boy had to get rid of a Death Eater that tried to keep him from getting to his goal, but they were usually brushed aside rather forcefully and without a second thought.

Voldemort stood up. His eyes were shinning with a mix of amusement, cruelty, and curiosity. He couldn't help but wonder who the boy was.

When he was nearly in front of the Dark Lord, Harry shrugged of his cloak; it would only get in his way. Voldemort narrowed his eyes when he saw a child standing in front of him; he hadn't expected one so young to wield such power. Looking him over carefully, the snake like man realized he was probably face to face with the old man's grandson.

Smirking cruelly, the man ignored the fighting going on around him and spoke in those sibilant words. "Well, my boy, I never would have thought we'd have the chance to meet... especially not so soon."

Harry calmly raised an eyebrow, he had been in front of the man before and for once, he felt none of the fear he would have expected to feel. "You have my grandfather, where else would you expect me to be?"

The Dark Lord threw his head back and laughed. "You're a brave little fool, my boy. Don't tell me you're here to save the old man." Looking at the man tied to the wall next to him, he smirked. "Even in the event that you managed to save him, which of course is not going to happen, there's not much of a chance for him to survive."

Harry clenched his fists, rage starting to fill him. Suddenly a cold hand landed on his shoulder from behind and a soft whisper brushed his ears. "Calm down, Alec, he's only trying to get you angry so you will act without thinking."

Knowing that Salazar was right, the boy unclenched his fists and tried to relax. Looking up at the man sitting in the throne like chair, he saw that his red-like eyes were wide open, probably staring at his companion. The ghost moved from behind him and went to stand at his side.

"So you're the one who has destroyed the Slytherin house, the one that I worked so hard to built."

Voldemort's face changed from surprise to rage. He stood up sharply and pointed his wand at the two companions.

"I have not destroyed the Slytherin house! I will bring it to greatness!"

Salazar sneered up at him. "Which greatness? To grovel at your feet like slaves? To kill muggles only to make themselves feel powerful? To install fear in the wizarding world so that you don't need to fight them? If this is your kind of greatness, you don't deserve to be my heir, you don't even deserve to be a wizard."

Voldemort sharply shook his head. "You have no longer a say in these matters; you are dead, you have no longer the power to make those kinds of decisions."

Salazar smirked. "Really?"

Suddenly a soft light started to shine in front of him. Ever so slowly the light took shape and started to solidify. Harry looked at the ring floating in front of the dead founder; it was beautiful. It was made by two silver snakes that were biting each other's tails. The snakes' eyes were bright emeralds that were shinning in power. The founder's voice rose over the sounds of the battle that was being fought behind them.

"In the ancient times, when an heir was found to be unfit for the position, there were ways to take their gifts away and give them to someone who was worthy." The ghost smirked at Voldemort's horrified face. "I may be a ghost, but you have declared yourself my heir, and therefore I have the right to deem you unfit for that position. I could choose someone to replace you, but you are right. I am no longer part of this world, I might chose someone that wouldn't be able to uphold my ideals in the world that you live in." He motioned to the ring still floating in front of him. "I will let this choose. In it I've put those things I consider important to be my heir, and the Slytherin ring will chose who will be my heir."

Before Voldemort had the chance to reply, Salazar closed his hand over the ring and started to chant softly in parseltongue. The ring started to shine even brighter and suddenly it blinked out of existence. Harry looked questioningly at the ghost, wondering what was going to happen. He was about to ask when Voldemort dropped on his knees and screamed. Another scream joined the sudden silence. Harry whirled around just in time to see Severus collapse. Ignoring the corpse that now laid in front of the throne, the boy ran in his uncle's direction.

"Uncle Severus!"

Most of the Death Eaters that had still been fighting had also collapsed and were now gripping their arms in agony. Harry ignored them all and fell down on the floor next to the man. He wasn't very surprised to see the silver ring shinning proudly on the man's right hand. What worried him was that the man didn't seem able to stop screaming. Salazar appeared next to him and was looking down at him in concern.

"Did you find out how to remove the mark, Alec?"

The boy's head snapped up, suddenly understanding what was going on. Damn Voldemort, he had obviously decided that if he wasn't going to make it none of his followers would either. Passing his tongue over his suddenly dry lips, he nodded hesitantly. "Yes, but it's not ready to be tested, I could kill him!"

Salazar looked seriously. "He's going to die anyway. Try it, Alec."

Taking in a deep breath, he quickly moved his hand so it was clasped over the dark mark. Closing his eyes, he fell into a slight trance. He started to see the magic that surrounded them, and he focused on the dark strands that led away from the man. Grasping those strands in his mind, he started to sever them one by one, tying them to the man's own magic.

After a few moments, he started to chant in parseltongue: "You swore obedience to one, now it's time to get the reigns back. That the darkness leaves you with filling light and that the skull changes to something of your own."

Over and over he repeated those words till they were more of a plea than a charm. Salazar, who had been watching intently, saw how the shape of the Dark Mark disappeared from under the boy's fingers. Finally, with a last pull, Harry slumped forward, breathing heavily on his knees. As he removed his hand, they both saw that a big, black panther had replaced the ugly dark mark.

After a few more minutes, Severus stopped screaming and lay panting next to them. Alec gathered the older man's head on his lap and started to brush his hair gently.

While no one around them seemed to understand what was going on, the aurors and Order members were quickly making sure that no Death Eaters would escape. Minerva silently knelt next to them.

"Alec, are you alright?"

The boy nodded, not moving his gaze from his uncle. "I'm fine, and I think Uncle Sev is going to be ok too." Suddenly remembering, he quickly moved his gaze to where his grandfather and Voldemort had been. "Granddad..."

Minerva gently squeezed his shoulder. "Don't worry, we're going to take him to St. Mungo's at once. Someone will come and help you and Severus, ok?"

Before he had a chance to answer, the ghost who had remained silent till now, spoke up. "Don't worry, young Gryffindor. Severus and Alec will be fine, they just need to rest; I'll watch over them till someone comes to get them."

Nodding sharply, the woman stood up and left them alone. Harry looked up at the ghost who was watching down at the half-unconscious man. "What happened, Salazar?"

The ghost looked up and smiled slightly. "Well, as I said, the ring chose a new heir. Your Professor Snape seemed to be the ideal candidate and as soon as he found him, he started to give him the bits of magic that defined Tom Riddle as my heir; I think you'll find that he can speak parseltongue now. Anyway, the Dark Lord's body was held together by magic but with those missing pieces, the magic started to become unsteady, and in the end, it was not able to keep its body together."

The boy frowned. "But that would mean that Voldemort's soul is still out there, and as long as he's out there, he might be able to return."

Even before he was finished, Salazar was already shaking his head. "The first time he died, Tom's soul only survived because his magic was intact. Without that power to support his soul and keep it here, he will just pass on as any other human who dies."

Harry sighed in relief and turned his attention to the man lying next to him. "Uncle Sev?"

The man opened an eye and looked up at him; he seemed to be in a daze and didn't know exactly where they were. "Alec? Are you ok? What's going on?"

The man's voice was slurred and the boy could barely understand his words. Gently, he started to pet his hair. "Don't worry, Uncle, I'm fine, and so are you. Rest now, we're going back to Hogwarts."

No sooner had he said that, two aurors appeared at his side. The tallest one knelt next to him. "Are the two of you alright?" Looking at Severus, he smiled slightly when he saw him awake. "I don't know how you did it, but it's a wonder that you're alive, every other Death Eater died as soon as Voldemort did."

Severus raised his arm so he could properly see it, then, seeing the panther that had replaced the dark mark, he turned his head with a deep sigh and buried it in Alec's lap.

"I'm free, after so many years, I'm free."

After that he lost his grip on consciousness. The two aurors, helped by a mediwitch that had just appeared from St. Mungo's helped the two fighters back to Hogwarts. Once there, Madam Pomfrey took over. Most injured had been sent to St. Mungo's so she was free to fuss over them. Once Severus had been put to bed and looked over, the nurse turned to face Alec, who had till then been sitting on a chair in a corner.

"Come here, Alec, to bed with you."

The youth frowned at her. "I'm fine, I wasn't hurt."

The woman raised an eyebrow, still pointing imperiously towards the bed. "You may not have any injuries, but you look exhausted. You shouldn't even have gone with them to that fight, you're way too young to do that and your magic wasn't ready."

Knowing he wasn't going to win against the nurse in this, Harry allowed himself to be ushered to the bed and tucked in. He hadn't know how tired he really was, but halfway through the witch's work, he was deeply asleep.

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie.


	37. Aftermath

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

Harry woke up to the sound of people talking. His half opened eyes immediately fell on the bed when he knew his uncle would be. To his relief, the man was awake and talking quietly to Poppy, who was once again examining his arm. Salazar was floating behind the nurse, a very smug look on his face. It was the ghost who first noticed he was awake.

"Ah, look who's awake. Good evening, Alec."

Both wizards turned around quickly at the ghost's words and looked at him intently. Harry looked from the nurse, who was moving towards his bed so she could check on him, to the man lying in bed. One look in those dark eyes and stern face and he knew he was in trouble. Not that he regretted what he had done, but he had broken his promise to the man, and he knew him enough to know that even if by doing so he had saved them, he would still be punished for disobeying him.

Sighing, the boy leaned back against his pillows and allowed Poppy to check him over completely. When he finally felt the woman leave his side, he saw that Severus had left his own bed and was now standing next to him. Alec half expected him to start yelling at him right away, but to his surprise, the professor calmly sat next to him on the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

Alec shrugged lightly. "I'm fine, still a bit tired but I guess it'll go away with time. How about you, sir? And Granddad?"

"Your grandfather is recovering as well as expected. The unexpected trip to Voldemort's lair set him back a bit, but the doctors at St. Mungo's think he'll recover in a few weeks. As for myself, I'm fine too, still a bit shocked but that's to be expected. After all, I never would have thought I would one day be named the Heir of Slytherin."

Harry chuckled a bit, looking as the man played a bit with the ring that was now on his finger. "I think it was a good choice. You are after all the Slytherin Head of House and have always worked to uphold its ideals."

Severus shrugged slightly, clearly uncomfortable at the boy's words. Before Alec could comment further on the matter, the professor took his turn at speaking.

"I think I owe you some thanks; if it weren't for you, Voldemort would have taken me with him."

Harry shrugged. "It was no big deal, I wasn't even sure it would work. Besides, you saved me too; I don't know if I would have been able to kill him, no matter how much I've learnt from Salazar and Granddad. It would have been a horrible fight."

At those words, Severus started to frown again. Scowling, his voice became once again stern. "You shouldn't even have been near the Dark Lord; I told you to stay near me, or did you forget about your promise?"

Harry lowered his gaze to the bed. He had been right to think that the man was quite annoyed with him. And yet, he couldn't even say that he was sorry because he wouldn't mean it and that would probably anger Severus even more. Pressing his lips together, Alec clenched his fists into the blanket that still covered him.

"I didn't forget, but I did what I thought was needed, just as everyone else around me. Maybe I wouldn't have won in a duel against Voldemort, but I at least had a chance. You couldn't expect of me to just sit back and watch as that monster killed everyone."

Those words didn't seem to appease the man at all. "You lied to me. You were already planning to go after Voldemort even before we left the grounds."

Harry shook his head lightly. "I wasn't really planning it, but I knew I would go after him if I had the chance and everyone else was in danger."

Severus' face darkened even more. "Why did you make a promise you weren't planning on keeping?"

"I did what was needed." Harry knew he was repeating himself, but he couldn't offer a better explanation. Besides, he was sure that his professor understood his need to help, even if he didn't want to admit it. After all, the man had done such things all his life. "You wouldn't have let me come otherwise."

The Potions Master glared at him. "You can bet I wouldn't have. If I had known I would have had you dosed with my most powerful sleeping potion to make sure you stayed put and safe." After a short, tense, silence, the man growled again. "And to think I can't even punish you for this."

Harry blinked, looking up at the man for the first time since the conversation had turned to this matter. "Of course you can."

Severus, still angry, passed a hand through his hair. "This is hardly a school related matter."

Those words hurt, and Harry was forced to bow his head so the man wouldn't notice. It wasn't really that he wanted to be punished, who in his right mind would like it? But he knew that he deserved it for betraying the man's trust, and the fact that the wizard didn't want to take action because it wasn't a school related matter didn't sit well with him. He had treated Severus like an uncle for months, and while he had never had to discipline him through that time, he had never expected the man to back off when he had the right to do so. Did that mean that Severus no longer wanted him as his nephew? Maybe everything he had said about still liking him had been just lies to make sure he stayed safe until Voldemort was gone.

Severus watched with a frown as Alec withdrew into himself. Even though he was still quite furious with the youth, he was aware that he had said something wrong, but tried as he might, with his mind torn between anger and relief at the boy, he wasn't able to come up with anything. Sighing, knowing that it wouldn't be a good idea to let this stew, he decided to ask straight forward what was wrong.

"Ok, out with it, Harry, what did I say to upset you so?"

His tone of voice, while still stern, was much calmer than it had been before and it startled the boy out of his dark thoughts. Blinking up, he shook his head. "It's nothing."

"Rubbish. I really am not in the mood the figure it out myself, Harry, so be kind enough to explain it to me."

Alec bit his lip; he didn't want to explain, it would be embarrassing, but one look at the man's face told him that he wouldn't back off until he had an explanation. Sighing, he sat up and flexed his legs so he could rest his head on his knees.

"It's nothing; I just thought that even after Voldemort's death you would still want to be my uncle. Sorry for assuming such a thing."

To say that Severus was shocked would have been an understatement. What on earth had brought this on? He had meant it when he had told the boy that nothing had changed between them, but something had made Harry doubt him. Thinking back at the conversation they had had, he immediately spotted the moment in which Harry could have had his doubts.

Sighing softly, he passed a strong arm around the boy's shoulders. "Harry, don't be silly, of course I still want to be your uncle. Nothing is going to make me stop."

Harry looked torn between confusion and relief. "But I disobeyed you and then you said you wanted to punish me but couldn't. If you want to be my uncle, then you can punish me." After a short moment, he continued in a softer voice. "You once told me I should treat you the same way whether you were angry at me or happy."

Snape shook his head lightly, he remembered that day. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes. "One would think you want to be punished."

Harry bit his lip. "It's not that."

He was about to try and explain when Severus drew him closer. "Hush, I understand what you mean. I'll have to think on a suitable punishment, but I better do that when I'm not this angry at you."

Alec shuddered a bit and nodded in agreement. He had gotten what he wanted, or at least what he told himself he wanted. Relaxing against the man that held him, he felt his eyes start to drop. He would have fallen asleep if a sudden thought hadn't entered his mind.

"Uncle?"

"Yes?"

"Who knows about who I really am?"

Severus looked down at the concerned, young face. "As far as I know, only your supposed parents, Albus, Minerva, and I, maybe Poppy, why?"

Harry shrugged lightly. "I won't need to go around as Alec Dumbledore any longer, but I'm not sure how to tell everyone else."

The potions Master shook his head. "Leave things as they are for now, let's see what Albus has to say on the matter."

Nodding, the child settled down with Severus' help and closed his eyes, ready to go to sleep.

The Slytherin Head of House had been sitting next to Alec's bed for nearly an hour when Minerva entered the large, white room. The woman headed immediately towards them.

"Severus!"

The man, startled out of his reading, looked up sharply at the soft voice. "You're back early, Minerva. I thought the inquiry against the Minister would take much longer." Frowning, he added: "I hope things went well?"

The deputy headmistress nodded calmly. "They went fine. Fudge wanted to make it a long trial, with dozens of witnesses and I don't know what more, but Madam Bones quickly cut to the case and proposed to use Veritaserum on him. The Wizengamot immediately agreed, none of them seemed to have any doubts about the Minister's actions, so it was really a quick thing."

Severus seemed pleased at that. "So he has been put out of office?"

Minerva nodded. "Yes, due to incompetence and corruption. There're going to be elections in two months, and until then Madam Bones will be acting Minister."

They both remained silent for a long while, pondering what changes the future would bring. After a while, Minerva started to ask about Harry and how he was doing, Severus told her about the conversation they had had and asked for her advice on the matter.

While they spoke, neither noticed the wide blue eyes that had moved from the tall, dark haired man to the child sleeping peacefully on the bed. So, this was Harry Potter; he had been hiding under their very nose and no one had noticed. Silently, the stranger drew back, hoping that no one would notice her. This was great news and she had to think about what to do with it.

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta reader, Vinnie.


	38. The awakening of a Headmaster

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

Two days later, Alec finally managed to convince Madam Pomfrey that he was alright and that he could leave the infirmary. Of course, the fact that he had managed to sneak out of the place two times already forced the nurse to just let him go.

For a moment, the boy stood outside the door that led to the infirmary, wondering what he should do next. He really didn't feel like rejoining the young Ravenclaws; as much as he enjoyed Lan's company, he didn't want to lie to her anymore. The Gryffindors were also out of the question; Severus had been right in saying that they better wait to see what his grandfather had to say about it.

Finally, knowing he couldn't just stay in the middle of the hall, the boy walked to his rooms in the headmaster's tower. It was strange to be up there without the old man. The tower felt colder, it wasn't really like home anymore. Sighing, Harry sat down in the living room, watching with blank eyes as a few students walked around the lake. Nearly two hours had passed when a voice startled him out of his musings.

"What on earth are you doing up here on your own? I've been looking for you everywhere."

Harry turned around sharply. "Uncle! Sorry, I didn't hear you come in. is there something wrong?"

The older man walked father in the room and sat down next to the boy. "I don't know, you tell me. Why are you sitting here alone?"

The teenager shrugged lightly and returned his gaze outside. "I was just thinking. I didn't feel like returning to Ravenclaw and lying to them any more."

The man looked down at him, concern plainly written on his face. "I'm afraid you'll have to hold the ruse up for a while longer, Child. It really is safer that way until everything settles back."

Harry nodded glumly. "I know." They remained silent for a while, but then Alec remembered something the man had said. "You said you were looking for me?"

The man nodded seriously. "Yes, there are several things we need to talk about. Firstly, I thought you would be happy to hear that Fudge has been definitively kicked out of office. Madam Bones is going to come here someday next week to talk with us concerning our current standing with the Ministry."

The boy looked a bit confused. "I'm glad to hear about Fudge, but why are you telling me about the new Minister? Do I need to do something?"

Severus shook his head. "No, I just want you to be careful while she is here. She won't come alone and while I know that we can trust her, we don't know about her companions. Even if people don't know you're the Boy-Who-Lived, being Dumbledore's grandson still makes you a valuable target, as I'm sure I've told you before."

Harry cringed a bit when he remembered the day the man had told him the same thing. It had been over the summer, when, on his birthday he had walked away from the adults to go look for some strange voices he had heard. He also remembered something else that the man had said that day. His uncle hadn't said anything about his punishment yet; maybe it was time to talk about that.

For a few moments he considered how to approach the subject, but the feeling of dread building in his stomach made him decide to just be blunt. "Are you doing to spank me?"

Severus looked down at him with a frown before answering. "That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. If you were younger, I would seriously consider spanking you. After all, what you did was incredibly dangerous, and I would have used any means necessary to teach you that putting yourself in danger like that is by no means acceptable. As it is, I think you're a bit too old for that, and besides, I don't think it would help all that much." Looking at the boy he muttered softly. "Not that I think that anything is going to help to get that point across to you after everything that has happened."

Harry winced slightly at the frustration he could hear in the man's voice. He was trying to come up with something to say, when the Potions Master continued, his voice becoming stern once more. "Anyway, you're grounded for the next two weeks. You'll be staying with me at all times except for going to class and meals, which you'll take in the Great Hall. Besides that, you'll be taking lessons from either me or Salazar at least two days a week for the rest of the year. If you're going to rush out and put yourself in danger, at least you'll be as ready to face it as I can make you."

Alec blinked, not sure about how he should be feeling at his punishment. He had actually been expecting it to be much harsher than that. The grounding was going to be boring, but at least it would keep him away from his fellow Ravenclaws which he didn't mind that much. As for the lessons, it wasn't anything he hadn't been doing before, and he really didn't mind.

Severus looked down at the pensive face of the child sitting next to him. It had been difficult to refrain his more preferred disciplining methods; if he hadn't had time to think about things, he would have had Harry scrubbing cauldrons for the rest of the school year. In the end he had had to take into account that the boy had saved him and that without him, they would probably be either dead or still fighting that madman.

Finally, the Potions Master looked down at his watch and broke the silence. "Come on, Child, get dressed in some robes, we need to leave."

Harry snapped out of his thoughts, a confused frown starting to show on his face. "Where are we going?"

The older man smiled softly down at his charge. "To St. Mungo's, of course. We thought you might want to see your grandfather now that he is finally awake."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "He's awake? Why on earth didn't you say so to start with?" Jumping out of his seat, the boy grabbed his uncle's hand and tugged him out of his seat. "Come on, Uncle Sev, what are we waiting for?"

The older man laughed softly, restraining the boy before he could drag him out of the door. "We're waiting for you to put on a robe." As an afterthought, he added. "And don't call me Sev."

Harry barely listened as he threw a robe over his clothes and quickly dragged the man after him.

They met up with Minerva, who was waiting for them down at Albus' office. She was smiling softly down at the teen when they entered the room.

"I was starting to think you wouldn't be coming."

Harry rolled his eyes while he finished buttoning his robe. "Uncle Severus was being longwinded once again."

The older man ruffled Alec's hair. "Watch it, brat, or we'll make it three weeks."

The boy looked innocently up at his mentor. "I don't think that that will be necessary, Uncle."

The Potions Master didn't answer, but the amusement he was feeling shone clearly in his eyes. Minerva shook her head lightly and gave Severus the floo powder. "Come on, let's get going."

They arrived at the hospital without problems. Once there, one of the nurses immediately led them to the room Dumbledore had been staying in. Before going in, Minerva excused herself and went to check on Remus and Professor Sprout who had been staying at the hospital being treated for the injuries they had sustained while trying to protect the old headmaster.

Once she disappeared down the hall, Harry turned to look at the door and taking in a deep breath, he pushed it open. Knowing that the professor was following him, he entered the room. Amanda was the only one sitting there with the old man. They both looked up when they heard the door open.

The woman quickly stood up and after gently kissing her uncle, she left the room. Albus watched the two of them as Severus closed the door. After a silencing spell was placed around the room, Harry darted to the bed and into his grandfather's arms. Albus hugged the boy tightly against his chest feeling the tremors coursing through the child.

"It's ok, Alec, everything is going to be alright."

Severus went to sit in the seat Amanda had just left and watched with a fond smile as the two of them reassured each other. After a minute, he saw Albus wince a bit and immediately drew Harry away. "Come here, Alec, I think your grandfather still needs to take things easy."

The boy allowed himself to be seated in the man's lap and turned to watch the older man closely. "How are you feeling, Granddad?"

"Much better, my boy. I hear from Amanda that I have to thank you for still being here. The doctors are still baffled at what you did."

Severus snorted and muttered under his breath. "They are not the only ones."

Albus smiled gently down to his dark haired colleague. "And I hear it is thanks to you that we don't have to fear about the Dark Lord taking over again. Not to mention that the Slytherins have been accepted again as a welcomed part of Hogwarts, something that hadn't happened since my youth. Tell me everything that happened, I want to hear it from your point of view."

Severus had to fight down a blush, but started to explain everything. From time to time, Harry intervened, explaining some things that Severus hadn't know or had seen differently. When they finished, Albus stayed silent for some time in the end, he turned to Severus.

"I'm very proud of you, my boy, your handling of the Slytherins has been masterful; I'm glad you were able to influence them so much. Minerva told me that you weren't sure about your decision but as I'm sure she told you, you did the right thing. Keeping the children safe has always been more important than spying."

The younger man couldn't help his blush this time. Bowing his head he nodded in acknowledgement. "Thank you, Albus, that means a lot."

Nodding, the man turned to his grandson. "I'm also proud of you, my boy, for saving your uncle. Without you, I think we would have lost Severus." Then he adopted a stern air. "What I don't like is that you disobeyed Severus. I think that you and I will have a long chat about how to follow rules that are put there for your own safety."

Harry looked down and nodded lightly. Severus chuckled softly. "Don't worry, Albus, I think I've already made sure he understands. Besides, he's grounded."

The two men discussed the details of his punishment, making Harry feel uncomfortable while still cradled in his uncle's arms. While talking, Severus noticed that the older man was growing tired and knew that they would have to cut their visit short. Yet, there was something else they needed to talk about before they left.

"Albus."

The old man looked up, tired eyes fighting to stay open. "Yes? Is there something wrong?"

The younger man nodded lightly. "What do we do about Alec? Do you want him to keep walking around as your grandson or should he return to being Harry Potter?"

To be continued…

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to Vinnie for beta-reading this fic.


	39. Intuition

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

The old headmaster, who had been leaning tiredly against his pillows, immediately sat up at the words uttered by his younger colleague. His eyes became fixed on the pair seated next to him.

"What did you say?"

Harry glared up at his uncle. "You shouldn't shock him like that; it can't be good for his health."

The man didn't bother to look apologetic, it wasn't every day you had the chance to shock the old man. "I think you know what I'm talking about, Albus."

The old wizard leaned back against his pillows, his gaze never wavering from the dark haired man. "How did you find out?" His look lowered to the child. "Did you tell him?"

Alec quickly shook his head. "No, Granddad, you know I wouldn't." Looking up at his mentor, he frowned. "Actually, you never told me how you found out."

Severus grimaced. "Salazar told me; he was worried about the effect my reaction would have on you. He is very protective of you, Child."

Harry winced a bit. "You took it better than I thought you would."

The Potions Master shook his head lightly. "It's good that you weren't there when I did find out. It wasn't pretty." The man looked down at the child, ashamed of the way he had behaved. "Don't blame Salazar about this, Harry, he did the right thing; I would have hurt you had I found out any other way and for one, I am glad I didn't get the chance."

Before Harry had the chance to answer, Dumbledore intervened. "I'm happy about that too. But what is this about Salazar? Who is he? When did he find out? And more importantly, how many people know?"

Between the two of them they tried to keep things short and tell the man the important things without entering in details. There would be time later to explain things more calmly. When they were finished, Albus was still frowning, trying to process everything that had been said. Finally, he passed a hand over his face and spoke.

"We'll have to talk more thorough about what's going to happen in the future; there're several things we need to take into account, one of them being Harry's guardianship. For now, I think it'll be best if you keep being Alec. I want to be there when everyone finds out and help you through it. Do you think you can keep it up, my child?"

Harry slid out of Severus' lap and went to embrace the older man. "Don't worry, Granddad, it's going to be ok. Besides, I'm grounded, so I won't be able to spend much time with the other children."

Both adults looked amused at the relief coming from the boy's voice. Severus looked at the pair teasingly. "Maybe we should keep your punishment for later on."

"No!"

Both Albus and Severus couldn't help but burst out laughing at the horrified shout. When they finally calmed down, they saw that Harry was pouting which nearly sent them into a fit of laughing again. Finally, Severus stood up and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Come on, Harry, we need to get going and let Albus rest."

The teen reluctantly nodded, and after hugging the old man once more they left the room. Chris, who had been waiting outside, nodded at them when they passed in front of him and entered the room to keep watch over the old headmaster. After searching for Minerva, who was sitting with Pomona, and telling her that they were leaving, the pair went back to Hogwarts.

Once there, Severus turned to the boy. "Go get some of your things from the Ravenclaw Common Room. I expect you to be down in my rooms within an hour."

Alec nodded and after making sure he was presentable, he left the room. Once he entered the large room, he was immediately hugged by Lan.

"Alec! Are you alright? Jason said you were ill."

The boy gently pushed her away, aware that everyone was listening to them. "I'm fine, don't worry about it."

One of the seventh years looked directly over them. "Any idea how the headmaster is doing?"

Glad that the attention had been diverted from him, the boy smiled brightly. "He's doing fine, he finally woke up, and the doctors say he will be up and around in a few weeks."

A generalized cheer rose through the room and everyone started to talk at once. Poking Lan in a side, he motioned towards the stairs and the two of them left the Common room. Once there, the girl went to sit on a bed and watched as her friend started to put some of his things in a bag.

"Are you leaving, Alec?"

Looking up, he saw the frown that marred her face. Sighing, he put the bag down and went to sit with her. "Not the school. But I'll be staying with Professor Snape for a few weeks."

The girl looked at him, startled. "How comes?"

Harry started to blush, how was he supposed to explain that? "Yeah, well, you see... I'm kinda grounded."

Lan blinked a few times before falling back against the pillows and laughing. "You've been grounded by a professor? I didn't even think it was possible. What will your grandfather say?"

Harry groaned. "He actually agreed with it."

The girl laughed even harder at that while her companion just rolled his eyes and waited patiently till her laughing fit passed. "It's not that funny."

Drying her tears, the witch shook her head. "It is, Alec, it is. What did you do to deserve that?"

Sighing, the boy brushed his hair away from his face. "I kind of disobeyed Uncle Sev in something I shouldn't have. Doesn't really matter any more, I think I was doing what was right, and he probably believes the same, else I would have spent my evenings in detention for the rest of the year instead of just being grounded for two weeks."

Lan rolled her eyes. "Knowing Snape, you're probably right. If it was as important as you said, you got off lightly. So, you'll be staying with him? What about classes?"

Alec sighed. "I'll still get classes with you and eat meals in the Great Hall."

Lan nodded and for a long while they kept silent. Finally, when Alec was about to pick up his bag again, the girl broke the silence. "It's weird to know that Voldemort isn't around anymore."

Startled at the sudden change of topic, Alec remained where he was. Lan looked up at him through half lidded eyes. "Were you there, Alec?"

Surprised, he glanced down at her. "What makes you think that?"

Lan shrugged. "It's just a feeling. We haven't been told much about what happened. Just that a group of aurors and teachers went in there and battled the Death Eaters and managed to somehow kill Voldemort. The older students have been trying to find out what exactly happened, but they've only managed to know for sure which teachers were there. I know that Professor Snape went and he was injured. I haven't heard about you, but now you're saying that you're grounded for disobeying him. Did you follow them to the battle?"

Not meeting the curious gaze trained to him, Alec started to fiddle with his robe while considering what to tell her. Finally, he sighed and nodded slightly. "I went with them, but not without them knowing. I wanted to go, my grandfather was in danger, and I needed to make sure he wouldn't be hurt anymore. Professor Snape allowed me to go under the promise that I would remain at his side. I didn't obey him."

Lan nodded. "No wonder he was pissed off at you then. That was very dangerous."

Harry groaned. "Not you too, my uncle and my Grandfather have already told me how foolish I was."

Lan smiled softly but let the matter go. "So are you going to tell me what happened? I'm dying of curiosity about how Voldemort died. Was it Harry Potter?"

Harry looked at her sharply. "No, it was not him."

Briefly he told her about what Salazar had done and how Professor Snape had become the Heir of Slytherin. Once he was done, he fell into silence while the girl tried to process everything she had been told. Finally, she laughed softly.

"Who would have thought it could be something as simple as that?" Harry shrugged, at the time it hadn't felt simple at all, but he didn't need to tell her that. "I wonder how Potter will feel about what happened."

Alec looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean?"

Lan shrugged. "He was supposed to kill him, everyone knew that, and now suddenly someone else pops up and does his job. It must be weird."

Harry looked down at his half packed bag. "I think he'll feel relieved that he doesn't have to kill that madman; that the duty that was put on his shoulders has finally been accomplished and that now he'll be able to lead a normal life."

Nodding, the girl stayed silent for a moment, and then she stood up and headed to the door. "You're probably right; it must have been hard to lead his life. I wonder if he will return now that everything is safe again."

When she said that, her eyes locked with Alec's and he couldn't help but wonder if she knew about him. They remained in a tense silence for a long while, their eyes never straying from each other's gaze. Finally, Alec lowered his eyes and smiled softly. "When the time is right, I'm sure he will."

Lan smiled too. "I look forward to meeting him."

Alec laughed a bit. "I'm sure he looks forward to meet you too."

The girl laughed a bit, her suspicions having been confirmed by a few words. "I'll leave you to pack; you might need a few of your things to survive two weeks with Professor Snape."

Harry laughed lightly as she left the room and turned to his things. Briefly he wondered how the girl had found out his secret, but decided to ask some other time, it wasn't really that important now. Lan may have many of the faults of the Creevy family, but she knew how to keep a secret.

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to Vinnie for beta-reading.


	40. The Board of Governors

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

Three days had passed since his confinement to Snape's chambers. Lessons had resumed that same day, and Harry was grateful for it. While his time locked up in his uncle's rooms wasn't as bad as it could have been, it wasn't much fun either. He had continually been reading, because at the slightest hint that he was bored, his uncle would usher him to the lab and make him spend hours cutting up the most disgusting ingredients. After the first time that had happened, Alec had made sure to always keep his head in a book. Not that he thought that is uncle didn't know that half of that time he was lost in thought instead of reading, but as long as he wasn't forced to work in the lab it was fine with him.

The only bright spots in his forced seclusion had been the two visits he had done to his grandfather and the lesson he had had with Rowena about mind magic. So, after two days of that, he was more than happy to return to a normal school schedule, even if it was in first year lessons. When he appeared at breakfast that morning, there were many questions about his continued absence of the Ravenclaw Common Room; it seemed that Professor Flitwick had only told the prefects that Alec would be staying with Professor Snape due to family problems. Harry had been grateful to stick to that story; there was no need to tell everyone that he had been grounded by one of his professors.

Lan hadn't changed her behaviour around him, for which he was grateful. There were times in which he even doubted if she knew the truth, but then one look in her bright eyes convinced him that she knew. The last class of the day was potions, Harry made sure to pay attention, there was no need to annoy his uncle more than he already seemed. Wondering what had his uncle in such a foul mood, Harry stayed behind after they were dismissed. Sensing his presence, Severus warded the doors and sank back in his chair.

"Is there something you wanted to ask, Alec? Else you should head back to our rooms, there is still some time till dinner and you could get started on your homework."

The boy approached him. "Are you alright, Uncle?"

The man nodded tiredly. "Everything is fine, Alec, you don't need to worry."

Harry cocked his head. "If everything is fine, then why are you in such a bad mood? Something must have happened."

Severus looked up sharply, a glare evident in his dark eyes. "I don't think I need to explain my actions to you, young man."

Harry flinched at the sharp tone; it had been a while since it had been directed at him. "No, Uncle."

The soft tone he had used didn't appease the older man. Trying to refrain his temper, least he said something he might regret later, he sharply motioned towards the direction of their rooms. "You're still grounded, Alec, go now."

The boy nodded once and quickly left the room, deciding to give the man wide breath until he had calmed down.

The evening passed in tense silence. Alec tried to read but couldn't concentrate on his book while the Potions Master corrected essays, seemingly oblivious to the uncomfortable silence. Finally, unable to take more of it, Alec quietly bid his goodnights and went to the room his uncle had given him, thinking that if things continued as today his time with the man was going to be even more miserable than he had expected.

The man finally looked up when the boy quietly closed the door behind him. Sighing, he put his quill down and rubbed his tired eyes. He knew he owed the boy an apology; he hadn't deserved the sharp words, but he didn't know if he would be able to speak rationally yet, so he had preferred the strained silence. Today had been a bad day for all the professors. The Board of Governors had met and unanimously decided that Dumbledore was too old to continue in his position as Headmaster; the last attack had severely harmed his health and while he was expected to make it out without further problems, the Board had decided that the strain of leading Hogwarts would be too much for him now, so, next year they would have a new headmaster.

Minerva had been appointed as Headmistress in functions until such a time in which Dumbledore, the Heads of Houses and the Board of Governors could meet and appoint the new headmaster. That, coupled with the fact that the new Minister would be visiting them in a few days was putting a strain on all the teachers, and while most of them were able to continue without signs of stress, he had had to revert to his former facade to keep it together.

He was about to give up and go to bed when someone knocked on the door. Sighing, he went to greet his visitor and wasn't very surprised to see Minerva standing there. She had taken it upon herself to go tell Albus about the news and while she hadn't said anything, he had half expected her to come down and talk to him when she returned.

Silently, the two professors sat down and Severus served them a fresh cup of tea. Once they were settled, the Potions Master decided there was no sense in beating around the bush.

"How did he take it?"

The Gryffindor head of house looked pensively at her cup. "To tell the truth, much better than I thought he would. I think he was expecting it."

Severus nodded. While none of them had thought of the possibility of such a thing happening, he had no doubts that Dumbledore, as usually, had taken such a thing into account. "I guess that's good."

Minerva smiled lightly. "You don't sound very convinced."

Snape snorted. "Don't take offence on it, Minerva, I'm sure that you will be appointed and that you will do a wonderful job of it, but he is Dumbledore."

The woman laughed lightly. "I know what you mean. I don't think anyone will be able to take his place."

Severus looked with a slight smile towards the closed door where his charge was probably sleeping. "Not yet at least."

Minerva nodded, knowing what her colleague was thinking. Also looking towards the door, she softly said. "I think it also might have something to do with Harry."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What makes you think that?"

McGonagall looked a bit reluctant to discus it since she was only guessing, but in the end, she told him her thoughts. "I don't know what the legal situation about Alec's guardians is, but I wouldn't be surprised if Albus tried to get guardianship over him. After all, the two of them really care about each other. I don't know if the Ministry would be very willing to grant him guardianship of the boy if he remained Headmaster of Hogwarts; after all he would barely be able to spent time with the boy and there could exist problems with conflict of interests."

Severus nodded. "You might be right about that. It's about time that the old man has some time for himself and those he loves." The Potions Master remained silent for a while before speaking again. "Have you thought what will happen to Harry if Albus doesn't apply or is denied custody?"

Minerva didn't move her gaze from the fireplace. "I already have the papers to apply myself should it come to that." As in an afterthought, she added. "I got copies of the papers for you if you want them."

Not looking at her either, Snape nodded. "Give them to me tomorrow, I also wish to be ready to fight for him if necessary."

They both remained silent, sipping on their tea. After nearly an hour, the woman left and Severus retired to his rooms, leaving the mountain of essays where they were to be corrected tomorrow.

Barely three hours after he had gone to sleep, Severus was woken up by sharp screams coming from somewhere in his rooms. Cursing, he put on a night robe and flew out of his room to the one placed just next to his. When he entered, he saw that Alec was trashing on his bed. He had kicked the blankets off and was shivering madly, crying out. Severus immediately went to sit next to the boy and drew him in his arms, trying to comfort him as good as possible.

"Hush, Harry, it's just a nightmare. You're fine, you're safe, no one is going to hurt you here."

For long minutes, he continued to speak softly in the boy's ear and rubbed his back gently, trying to calm him down. Finally, Alec opened his eyes and latched onto him. Severus silently held the crying boy, trying to reassure him that he was not alone and that everything would be alright.

Finally, after ten minutes, Harry was able to get his bearings back and drew himself away from the concerned man. Drying his tears, he looked up apologetically. "I'm sorry for waking you; I should have put silencing charms around my room, but I haven't had a nightmare in so long that I forgot all about it."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "I think your grandfather told you that you would be grounded for years if you did that again, and I quite agree with him on this. If I find out you have done such a foolish thing you will be in a lot of trouble, young man."

Harry flinched lightly at that. Having had this same argument enough times with Dumbledore, he knew that there was no reasoning with the man, so he didn't even try. "Yes, Uncle."

Not entirely convinced, the man quietly chanted a charm that would warn him about silencing charms put around the room. Not that he thought that Harry couldn't break it, but he would know if the boy did that. Alec, who had noticed, only rolled his eyes, having no intention of antagonizing the man for now. Settling back into his pillows, the boy curled up in a small ball.

Severus watched this with a small smile and drew the blankets up to the boy's shoulders. "Will you have problems sleeping?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't think so, it was just one of my regular nightmares, today was just a stressing day."

Severus nodded and gently brushed the boy's hair away from his face. "Okay, go to sleep, I'll stay with you till you're asleep."

Alec closed his eyes, comforted by the gentle touch. "You don't need to."

"I know, I want to. Now hush."

With a small smile on his lips, the boy fell into a peaceful sleep, feeling safe under his mentor's vigilant gaze.

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to Vinnie for beta reading this.


	41. The DADA teacher

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

The next morning, the news about the headmaster was announced. Severus had made sure that Harry knew about it before they went down to breakfast. The teen had been obviously upset but his reassurances that Albus had taken it quite well had managed to calm him down. Alec wasn't convinced that this was the best choice, but after his uncle's words he decided to wait for a chance to talk to his grandfather about it before deciding on what to feel. After all, maybe Dumbledore was happy to leave Hogwarts and all the work it implied behind.

Most students were quite upset by the news; it wasn't that they didn't like Minerva, but as Severus had said the night before, she was not Dumbledore. Most of the Ravenclaw turned to Harry after hearing the news. He was immediately asked about how his grandfather had taken the news. The teen could only shrug and say that he hadn't had the chance to talk to the man yet. He was sure he would have been bugged further if the bell for classes hadn't rung then. Lan was quick to drag him out of the Hall and to the charms classroom much to his obvious relief.

When they went to lunch that afternoon they were surprised to see that the teacher's table had become longer and that several ministry wizards were sitting there talking quietly with the teachers. Madam Bones was seated between Minerva and Severus and was quietly discussing something seemingly important with the two of them. Lunch went on peacefully. It was nearing the end, when Lan stood up.

"I forgot my charms book in the common room; I'll see you there in a few minutes."

Harry nodded at her and continued eating his dessert. No one had been paying attention to the girl until a piercing scream ran through the hall silencing all conversations and making more than one person go for his wand. They all turned to look at the source of the scream and froze at the sight that met them.

Professor Nirian stood there with an arm around Lan's neck and her wand pressed against the girl's throat. Her blue eyes were glaring around the room, daring anyone to move. The teachers, who had risen from their seats, froze when the DADA teacher's eyes fell on them.

"Put your wands down, or the girl will die, and after her, all the other students until you manage to take me down."

Knowing that that was no idle threat, they all complied and put their wands on the table in front of them. Rising from her position, McGonagall looked towards the other woman.

"What is it you want?"

Nirian's eyes became frozen icicles at the question. "I want Potter. My master wanted him dead, and I will make sure that that is what happens to him even if the Lord is no longer here to witness it."

Several gasps rose from the students. They had never even suspected that the woman might have been a supporter of Voldemort. She had always seemed quite normal to them and for once had been a competent teacher. Minerva felt Severus tense at her side and narrowed her eyes.

"We don't know where Potter is."

Lan let out a small scream when the wand pressed more tightly against her throat. "Don't lie to me! I know that he has been hiding under our nose, I heard you and Snape talk about it so don't make me believe you don't know where he is when he is standing in this hall."

The students and most teachers couldn't believe their ears; they had trouble believing her words, surely she was insane, Potter couldn't be here without anyone knowing.

Minerva went to answer her, even if she knew that there was no sense in denying the truth; they needed time in hope that someone would hear what was happening.

Before she had the chance, another voice interfered. "Let her go."

Nirian's eyes travelled to the voice and met the bright blue eyes of the boy standing at the Ravenclaw table. "I already said I would let her go, but only in exchange for you, Potter."

All eyes swirled around to his small form, but he didn't move a muscle. From the corner of his eyes he could see his aunt and uncle curse softly under their breath, but there really wasn't anything they could do about it.

"Very well, but how will I know you speak the truth?"

A nasty smirk covered her lips. "You won't, but then again, if you don't come with me, she will die for sure."

Sighing, the teen nodded and started to walk towards her only to be stopped short by a blasting curse that landed just in front of his feet. Looking up, his gaze met her slightly crazed eyes. "I don't think so, boy. Throw your wand away, I'm not so stupid as to let you near me with a wand on you."

Alec was hard pressed to not let a smirk bloom on his face, as if he needed a wand to take her out. Without a word, he did as she asked and threw the wand towards the teachers' table that was now behind him. Then he continued walking forward and this time nothing slowed his advance.

He was aware of the eyes of the student body that followed each one of his moves, they were probably wondering if he was really The Harry Potter. A quick glance to the fifth table showed him that Ron and Hermione seemed to be the most incredulous of the students. He would have to talk to them later on, but now he had something else to do. Turning towards their teacher, he saw that the woman had started to advance backwards, out of the Great Hall, dragging Lan with her. The girl had her eyes fixed on him and he steadily returned her gaze. He knew that he needed to find an opening before they left the wards of Hogwarts, else they would be in quite a lot of trouble. The doors of the Great Hall slammed shut when he finally stepped outside and he found that the woman's wand was suddenly pointed at him. The craziness in the woman's blue eyes had grown and Harry suddenly realized that she wouldn't wait until they left Hogwarts to act.

"You die today, Potter."

Before he could answer, Lan spoke. "If you kill us here, the teachers will get you in a second and you will die with us."

Nirian let out a sharp laugh. "Do you think I mind, you silly girl! My master is dead, and without him, my life is meaningless. If I die here, after having killed Harry Potter, I will be remembered right along his name and his remaining followers will worship my name until a new Dark Lord raises."

Harry knew he needed to distract her, so he asked something he had been wondering about for a while. "How comes you're not dead if you are one of his followers? You should have died just as every other Death Eater has."

Nirian snorted. "I don't know why you would want to know something like that if you're going to die, but to satisfy your curiosity, there were a few of us who had the Master's full trust and respect, we were the elite and our marks are quite different from the others'. We were tied to Voldemort only with our oaths, not with our magic because we needed all of it to fulfil his wishes. He should have left you to us, we would have killed you without a problem."

Harry smiled sweetly up at her, he had seen something that would be able to provide the distraction he needed, he just needed to wait for a few more seconds. "It's a pity that he was such a nutcase, else he could have let you deal with small matters like me and concentrate on the important ones like trying to teach you Death Eaters something worthwhile. After all, all his followers always seemed to incompetent to do much good, I guess that was his downfall."

He hadn't really been expecting the cutting curse that tore through his shoulder and left him panting from the pain. He had rather expected a shouting rant coming from the woman. When he looked up, his good hand clutching his bleeding limp, he was met with ice blue eyes, who were burning in rage. "You will regret those words, boy, I was planning on killing you quickly and getting it over with, but now I will enjoy making you scream in pain."

Lan was looking at him with horrified eyes, but Harry knew nothing mattered anymore. Just at the moment when the witch was about to fire another cutting curse, sharp fangs sank in her ankle, making her howl in pain. Knowing that his chance was there, Harry quickly thrust his hand out and summoned his classmate, who went flying to him, torn out of unresisting arms. With a wince, he caught the girl against his chest, which sent a stab of pain shooting through his arm. Trying to ignore it, he fired another curse towards the woman, who was now kneeling down clutching her ankle with one hand while trying to find the snake that had bit her with the other one. The stunning curse reached its mark and the teacher crumbled to the ground without further sound.

With a relieved sigh, Harry looked down at the girl that was now clutching his shirt in one hand while her eyes roamed through the unconscious woman. "Are you ok, Lan?"

The girl turned to face him sharply. "Am I ok? Am I ok! Of course I am not! But you are the one bleeding here and you ask if I am ok."

Harry looked faintly embarrassed. "Yes, well…"

He tried to push some of his hair behind his ear before remembering that his hand was still coated with his own blood. Lan looked at his movements, concern replacing her former anger. "You're getting pale, I'll take you to Madam Pomfrey; she wasn't at lunch so I guess she'll be at the hospital wing."

Harry shook his head. "Professor Nirian put wards around Great Hall, we need to break them down so they can get out."

Alec turned to face the door and was already raising a hand towards it when his concentration was broken by the girl. She had grabbed his hand and was now dragging him away from the door.

"Melanie!"

The girl's stride didn't change. "That can wait, they're not in danger and someone else will be able to handle it; it doesn't need to be you. Besides, I'm sure that the professors will be able to come up with something to break down the wards, they're not defenceless, you know."

Harry would have bickered with her, but he was starting to grow dizzy from blood loss and knew that if he didn't get to the Hospital wing soon, he would faint, which was the last thing he wanted right now.

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader Vinnie.


	42. Dumbledore's stuborness

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of lies: Revelations.

Poppy rushed towards them as soon as she saw them enter the Hospital Wing. She quickly took in Harry's pale face and blood soaked shirt and gently pushed him towards a bed, where the teen collapsed and closed his eyes, trying to ward of the dizziness that had overcome him. He faintly heard Lan explaining what had happened to the agitated nurse as the woman's magic washed over him, healing his shoulder and leaving him sleepy. Something was pressed against his lips and he drank the sour tasting liquid down before falling into a troubled sleep.

Once she was sure that her patient was deeply asleep the nurse turned around and started to push the girl to another bed, ignoring her complaints. She quickly had her tucked in and dosed with a sleeping potion. After the potion took effect, she called a house elf and told him to watch over the two children. Not wasting another moment, she ran out of the hospital wing and to the Great Hall, she had to see if they needed help getting out.

Poppy was quite reassured when she met large groups of students being led to their common rooms by prefects while the new Minister and her entourage where flooing away and calling the aurors. Quickly, she strode to the entrance hall and towards her fellow teachers. Flitwick was bending over the stunned DADA professor, his wand moving over her form and securing a binding charm over her. McGonagall and Snape stood to a side, quietly discussing something. They both seemed very agitated so Poppy hurried to their side. The other woman was the first one to notice her.

"Poppy, I need you to get the hospital wing ready, they have kidnapped Alec and Melanie Creevy."

The other witch shook her head. "Actually they haven't, those two are resting in the infirmary right now."

Snape looked up sharply fixing his dark eyes on the nurse. "They are with you?"

Poppy nodded, but before she had the chance to reply properly, he turned around and hurried towards the hospital wing, Minerva and Poppy trailing behind him. Before Snape could burst in, Poppy grabbed his arm and slowed him down.

"Don't make so much noise, they're sleeping."

Nodding, the Sytherin heir entered the white coloured room and immediately went to the bed in which his young charge was lying. Minerva took one look around the room and turned towards Poppy.

"Did they tell you what happened?"

The nurse shook her head lightly. "Alec was nearly unconscious when they got here and I needed all my attention to heal his shoulder, which will be fine in a few days. Melanie told me a bit about Nirian but she looked about to have a nervous breakdown and I thought it better to put her to sleep."

Nodding the woman looked to where Severus was bending over Harry's still form, his hands gently prodding the boy, making sure he was doing alright. Once the Potions Master drew back and sat down next to the bed, she walked up to him.

"Severus?"

The wizard looked up, his lips pressed in a firm line and his face pale. "Yes?"

"The Aurors should be here in a few minutes. Can you tell them what happened?"

The man nodded, returning his gaze towards Alec. "Should I tell them about him?"

Minerva followed his gaze and sighed. "There's no point in keeping it quiet anymore. All the students heard, so, even if we managed to convince the aurors that that woman was just mad, the students will not be as easily convinced, you know how they are."

Severus had to admit that she was right. The charade was up and it was now up to them to protect Harry from the incessant questions that it would bring. Severus was wrenched out of his thoughts when he felt Minerva leave his side.

"Where are you going?"

The woman turned slightly, a grim smile on her face. "Someone needs to tell Albus. He will kill us if he finds out any other way."

With those words she left the hospital wing and quickly made her way to the nearest floo source. In a few minutes she was in St. Mungo and the witch quickly made her way to Albus' room.

She was very surprised when she saw an old man sitting besides the former headmaster. They both looked up when she entered the room. Albus, who was lying propped up against some pillows, smiled when she entered.

"Ah, Minerva, I wasn't expecting you so soon. I believe you haven't met my brother, Aberforth. Brother, this is Minerva, she has replaced me as Headmistress of Hogwarts and I'm sure she will do a marvellous job in her new position."

The witch nodded to the old gentleman settled in the chair, ignoring Albus' words, but immediately returned her gaze to the lying wizard.

"While it's a pleasure to finally meet your brother after so many years, Albus, I'm afraid I have bad news."

Minerva quickly explained what had transpired at the school not an hour ago, carefully watching the former Headmaster's face for any sign that her explanation would be too much for him. Once she fell silent, Dumbledore calmly pulled on a magical bell that was resting at his side, calling for the nurse to come to his room.

The Gryffindor frowned at the man's actions. "Albus? Are you feeling unwell?"

The man didn't have the chance to answer because just then a young nurse entered the room, a smile firmly placed on her face. "Good evening, Mr Dumbledore, is there something I could help you with?"

Returning her smile, the old man nodded calmly. "I would like to talk with my healer as soon as possible, Miss Farry."

The nurse frowned in concern. "Aren't you feeling well, sir?"

Dumbledore's calm expression didn't change, he just shook his head lightly. "No, I'm feeling perfectly fine, I just need to ask the good healer for a favour."

After assuring them that he Healer would be there in about half an hour, the nurse left the room, allowing Minerva to finally speak up.

"What was that about, Albus?"

The old man turned to face her, a stubborn expression firmly on his face. "I want to be transferred to Hogwarts hospital wing, I can't stay here a minute longer with everything that is happening there, and I need to make sure that Alec is doing alright."

Minerva looked him directly in the eyes, trying to discern how much putting up an argument would help. Seeing the determination and stubbornness in the blue eyes, she immediately gave up. "The board of governors isn't going to be happy about that."

Albus shrugged lightly. "They don't have as much power over us as they would like to think. Besides, they can't really kick me out until the end of term without reason if I don't wish it."

Before Minerva had a chance to reply, Aberforth stood up. "I'll be coming with you, brother, I want to meet this young man you seem to have taken a liking to." Turning to Minerva, he nodded to her. "I'm going to pack a few of my things and I'll come back to help Albus. Maybe you should go warn your nurse about our impending arrival?"

Trying to squish her annoyance towards both men, she replied. "What makes you think that the healer will allow you to leave?"

Both brothers looked at her as if she had asked a stupid question. "Minerva, my dear, what makes you think that the healer will have a say in the matter?"

Severus had been sitting at Harry's bed-side for nearly an hour after the Aurors had finally left. They had promised to try and keep things as quiet as possible, at least until Alec and Albus were feeing well enough to answer their questions. Severus had been forced to point out several times that they weren't looking for Harry anymore, so there was no need to know where he was but the aurors hadn't been appeased by his comments. He was still trying to think of some way to force the aurors to leave the boy alone when a commotion drew both, Madam Pomfrey's and his attention.

After exchanging a quick look with the nurse, the dark haired potions master stood up with a sigh. Growling softly, he strode towards the door and yanked it open. He wasn't very surprised to see a group of students standing there, obviously discussing if they should go in or not. They all fell silent as soon as they met his glare.

"May I ask what that racked was about? This is an infirmary, not a quidditch pitch, there are people resting in there."

When no answer was forthcoming, the man scowled even more. "Someone answer me now, else I'll start taking points."

Hermione, who had been standing at Ron's side, hesitantly stepped forward. "We heard that Har… Alec was here, professor."

Snape's glare didn't diminish even though he was grumbling inside. They couldn't have waited till Minerva was back, they had to come and ask for explanations when he was on his own. "Yes, Alec is here, why?"

The Weasley girl bit her lip. "Is it true, professor? Is he really Harry?"

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews.


	43. Dumbledore's arrival

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

Severus took in a deep breath; why was he surprised to see them here? He should be grateful that only the small group of Gryffindors was here and not the whole house as he should have been expecting. Silently, he closed the door to the infirmary behind him, making sure the people inside wouldn't be bothered by their talking.

"I believe the answer to that question is obvious, Miss Weasley, as Niriran shouted it in the middle of the Great Hall."

The two girls sighed in relief, like a huge weight had been lifted from their shoulders; on the other hand, the Weasley boy started to grow red. "Why on earth didn't he tell us? We've been worried about him and all the while he has been playing with us!"

The Potion Master's cold eyes silenced his rant. "I think that both Mr Potter and the headmaster thought that the boy's safety was more important than your feelings on the matter, Mr. Weasley. You knew very well who you made friends with in your first year, and if you can't accept that sometimes we need to do things we don't like to keep not only us, but also others safe, then it's time you either start to grow up or stop being friends with someone whose life will probably always be in some kind of danger."

Ron, who had grown a bit pale, opened his mouth to make a retort, but luckily Hermione cut him short. "Can we see him, Professor? Is he alright?"

The man turned his gaze to the girl. "He is sleeping now, he was hurt in the shoulder but nothing major; Madam Pomfrey assures us that he will be fine in a few days. Come back tomorrow and you will probably be allowed to see him."

He was about to dismiss them when his gaze fell on the approaching figures. "Albus!"

The children twirled around in time to see the headmaster approaching slowly, leaning on a cane and with McGonagall and another man hovering at each side. "Ah, Severus, children, it's good to see you again."

The old man faltered a bit and his breath grew heavier. The Potions Master quickly rushed forward to support the man as Aberforth allowed the younger man to take his place. "What on earth are you doing here? You should still be in the hospital!"

Hermione and Ginny quickly opened the doors to the hospital wing as Minerva and Severus helped the man inside.

"Now, Severus, I needed to be here. Besides, Poppy can take as much care of me as any of those doctors in St. Mungo's."

The Potions Master went to reply but McGonagall shook her head. "Don't bother, I've already tried to reason with him but he is as bull-headed as always." Looking to the other old man walking behind her, she added, "they both are."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Wonderful, there are two of them now."

Together they stepped into the infirmary, and Poppy, who had been bending over Harry, rushed towards them.

"Albus! What the hell are you doing here? In bed with you at once!"

The old man groaned. "Not you too, Poppy, is no one glad to see me?"

"Don't get overdramatic with me, old man, you know damn well we are happy to see you, but not while you should be in bed."

Ignoring the old man's pouting and his brother's laughter, the three professors put the old headmaster in the bed next to Harry's and tucked him in. Poppy immediately started to look the man over, making sure he was ok. Severus moved to the chair next to Alec's bed and sank down in it, leaving Minerva to deal with her Gryffindors.

Ten minutes later, Albus had fallen asleep, Minerva had taken her students to the tower and Poppy had gone to her office to talk to the healers in St. Mungo's. Severus was a bit startled when Aberforth went to stand at his side.

"So, this is Harry Potter."

Severus nodded silently, wondering what the old man wanted. They stayed in silence for a few minutes before the man spoke again. "He is very powerful, have you been training him?"

The Potions Master shook his head lightly. "As far as I know, Albus and a few ghosts have. I have taught him a few things but not much yet."

The old man nodded. "Good, you shouldn't let so much talent go to waste. Have you considered apprenticing him to someone? It would probably be better for him, it would challenge him much more and it would force him to really work on his powers."

Severus nodded slowly, he hadn't thought about it but it certainly made sense. "It would be a good idea, but it's not my decision to make; I'm not his guardian."

Aberforth moved his gaze to him. "Not yet, no."

The younger man frowned. "Albus wants to get guardianship over the boy."

"Yes, I know."

The Potions Master started to grow a bit irritated. "Don't you think he will get it?"

Aberforth laughed softly. "I don't doubt that what Albus wants, Albus gets. He will get guardianship over the boy, who would deny him that? My concern is whether he is up to it. Harry is still quite young and he is at a difficult age, can Albus still keep up with him? Especially after what happened? And is it fair to Harry?"

"Fair?"

"Albus is old, my boy, till now he has had iron health, but what about now? After everything that has happened? I hope he will be around for quite a few more years, but it is not as sure as it was a few months ago. Is it fair to Harry to get attached to such an old man?"

Severus pressed his lips together, the man had raised some valid points, none of which he wanted to think about. "I think it's too late to do anything about that. Harry loves Albus with all his heart, whether the old man takes guardianship over him or not won't change things."

"For what Albus has told me, the boy also loves you."

The younger man snorted. "So everyone says, and I love him quite a bit, but I don't see how one thing leads to the other, the boy loves quite a lot of people."

Aberforth smiled softly. "You could get guardianship over him."

Severus shook his head forcefully. "No. I love the boy and I like having him around but this isn't about me. It is about what Harry needs, and Harry and Albus understand each other in a way I'm afraid I will never be able to. Not to mention that I'm not going to fight against Albus for guardianship."

The old man remained silent, then he smiled. "And if you were asked to apprentice the boy?"

Severus looked up sharply, clearly shocked at the notion. "Me? Why me? There are many others that would do a much better job than me. I'm not good at teaching children, no matter how much I like them."

"It would be quite different teaching one on one than teaching a whole class. It would also mean you'd have joint guardianship with Albus over Harry, which would make his situation much more stable."

The younger man sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I don't know; it's difficult to imagine such a thing. Besides, I don't know why you're telling me all this, it will all come down to Albus and Harry."

The old man started to move towards his brother's bed, a small smile dancing on his lips. "I know, just think about it."

Severus couldn't help but groan softly, he had the feeling that the man had just done what Salazar had done before, getting him ready for what was to come.

Lan felt groggy when she woke up. Her limbs were heavy and it took her a while to open her eyes. When she finally managed to sit up in the comfortable bed, she saw that she was in the hospital wing instead than in the Ravenclaw Tower and at once everything came rushing back. Quickly looking around, her gaze fell on Harry's sleeping form and she sighed in relief when she saw he was sleeping soundly with the Potions Master sleeping in a chair besides him. Her gaze moved further away, looking for Madam Pomfrey, but instead was met with a sight she didn't expect.

"Headmaster!"

The old man, who had been reading calmly in his bed looked up when he heard the girl's voice.

"Ah, Miss Creevy, how are you feeling?"

The girl blinked and blushed lightly. "I'm fine, sir, what about you?"

The man smiled gently. "Much better, my girl, much better."

Their short talk woke the Potions Master up, who immediately sat up straighter, wand already in hand. When he saw they weren't about to be attacked, he glared at the old man, who was looking back in amusement.

"Good morning, dear boy."

The man's scowl deepened as he glanced towards his watch. "It's two in the morning, old man, you should be sleeping, not talking to your students." Without waiting for the older wizard's reply, Severus turned his attention to Lan. "How are you feeling, Miss Creevy?"

The girl blinked, a bit startled by the question, but hurried to answer. "I'm feeling fine, sir. How is Alec doing?"

"He'll be fine." The professor looked towards the sleeping youth before returning his attention to the girl. "I realise you may be feeling fine, but I can hardly send you on your way at this time of the night. Not to mention that Poppy would kill me if I sent off one of her patients, so I'm afraid you will need to spend the rest of the night in here and hope that our dearest nurse releases you in the morning."

Melanie couldn't help but laugh softly at the sarcasm coming from the Slytherin heir; he was actually funny when he wasn't tearing you to pieces. Dumbledore, from his bed, shook his head in amusement. "Now, now, my boy, no need for sarcasm. Why don't you go fetch Miss Creevy a mild sleeping potion? It will help her to go back to sleep."

The girl went to argue, but the Potions Master was already on his way to the cupboard where the nurse kept all her potions. In a few seconds he had located the required potion and was besides the young witch again.

"Here you go, drink it all down."

Faced with taking the potion or arguing with the man, Melanie chose the least painful way and took the potion, falling asleep not even a minute later. When he was sure the Ravenclaw was sleeping, the young Potions Master turned to the headmaster, who was still sitting in his bed. "Let's get it over with, old man, what do you want from me this time?"

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie.


	44. Back to Dumbledore's manor

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

Dumbledore laughed at the words his younger colleague had just uttered. "I see some things never change, Severus. What makes you think I need you to do something?"

Snape rolled his eyes and took a seat next to the older wizard's bed. "You just ordered me to put a student to sleep, you're still sitting there despite the fact that you should be sleeping, and the fact that I know you well enough to know what to expect when you try to deny things in that tone of voice."

Albus couldn't help but laugh again. "You're starting to know me too well, old friend."

The younger man shrugged his shoulders even though he looked quite pleased with himself. "Come on, Albus, stop beating around the bush, I still want to get some sleep tonight."

The older wizard nodded, a pensive frown shadowing his face. "I'm afraid you will have to wait with going to bed, Severus. As you pointed out, I would like to ask you for a favour." Knowing he was irritating the other man, Albus quickly continued. "The fact that Alec is Harry has come out, and by tomorrow morning we will have the castle full of reporters trying to get a look at the boy and aurors trying to find out everything that has happened. I would like you to take him out of here before it becomes impossible to stay in the castle."

A frown started to grow on the young man's face as the older man spoke. "Albus, I'm not saying that I won't do it, but do you think that that is a smart move? I agree that Harry needs time to rest, this last attack on top of everything else might have been too much, and yet, won't it be even more difficult to come back later? I know you want to protect him, but will you be able to?"

The old headmaster remained silent for a short while. "I have thought about that too, Severus. You have to understand that I have ways to protect myself, I can tell the aurors to piss off if I want to, I can force the reporters to get lost and only some of the staff might question me, but what is it going to be like for Harry? The student body is not going to leave him alone; they are going to hound him to find explanations about everything. His friends are questioning him right now; they won't be able to protect him until they have had a chance to reassure themselves that he is still the same boy. And you know him well enough to know that he won't come to us with his problems. Let' give things time to settle down, it's just one week till Christmas, give Harry till after that to relax."

Severus sighed, knowing damn well he wasn't going to win this argument, and privately he didn't really want to. Nodding, he first made sure Albus was settled comfortably in his bed before turning his gaze towards the sleeping boy. Not bothering to change his clothes, he gathered the young wizard in his arms, blankets and all, and silently left the room, aware of the blue, twinkling eyes following his movements.

When Harry woke up, he was very surprised to find himself in his room in the headmaster's house. Aware of the throbbing in his shoulder, he carefully sat up in bed and swung his feet over the side, in search for his slippers. He had managed to get on his feet when Twinkle appeared in the room.

"What is Young Master doing out of bed? He should be resting, Master Severus ordered it."

Harry reluctantly allowed himself to be pushed back into the comfortable pillows and watched as the small house elf rearranged the blankets around him. When she finally stopped moving, he started to question her. "Why am I here, Twinkle? You said Uncle Severus was here? Where is he?"

The house-elf settled down next to him. "Master Snape brought you here last night; he said Master Dumbledore had ordered him to do so. He says you're going to stay here until you get better and that Young Master shouldn't leave his bed under any circumstances. Master Severus left just after lunch, said he needed to get some of your things from the school and report to Master Dumbledore. Master Severus should be back in an hour or so, he told Twinkle to keep you in bed and make Young Master eat something."

The boy sighed and leaned back, closing his eyes as the small being disappeared, probably off to fetch him his lunch. Not that he wasn't grateful to be here; he assumed everyone knew that he was Harry now, but he felt he should have been there to try and explain things to his friends. His musings were cut short when Twinkle reappeared in the room, carrying a tray and ordered him to eat. Once he was finished, he felt sleepiness start to overcome him. He would have liked to stay awake until the Potions Master returned, but it seemed like he wasn't well enough yet for that.

Snape entered the room half an hour later. Things had been hectic at the school; he had had to walk past dozens of aurors who wanted to speak to either Harry or Albus. It seemed that they still didn't know that Harry was no longer in the castle and as Madam Pomfrey kept everyone out of her infirmary, it didn't seem like they were going to find out anytime soon. After stopping for a moment in the Ravenclaw common room and gathering a few things for the boy, he went to the Hospital wing. He ignored the Gryffindor students standing there and entered. Pomfrey was quite cross at him for taking Harry away and had no problems in telling him as much. Luckily, Dumbledore quickly drew her attention away to him. They talked for a while and then Severus quickly left again, not comfortable in leaving his young charge alone for a long time.

The boy was sleeping when he arrived, but Twinkle assured him that he had awakened and eaten something. Settling down at the bedside, the Potions Master brought out the book he had taken from the library about apprentices. If Dumbledore was going to ask him to be the boy's master, then he would like to know just what he was getting into. Several hours later, when Severus was just starting to eat the dinner Twinkle had provided, Harry started to move slightly. Guessing he was about to wake up, the Potions Master put his plate aside and moved so he was sitting on the bed, next to the boy.

Harry groaned as he was slowly brought back to consciousness. His shoulder was throbbing painfully and he couldn't help but wish he was still asleep. A gentle hand petting his hair finally managed to wake him up completely and he forced his eyes open. He wasn't very surprised to see his uncle sitting next to him.

"Uncle Sev."

Harry winced internally when he heard his voice was more a moan of pain than his usual infantile tone. The man gently caressed his cheek.

"Are you in pain, child?"

Alec barely nodded his head yes, and the man stood up at once, telling him he would go fetch a pain reducing potion. When the teacher returned, Harry was lying once again with his eyes closed and the hand of his healthy arm was clutching the blankets tightly. Gently, the tall man propped the teenager up so he was leaning against his shoulder and put the vial against his lips. It didn't take long for the potion to take effect and Severus could see how the boy's face regained some colour.

"Better?"

Alec opened his eyes and nodded, with a small smile dancing on his pale lips. "Much better; thank you, Uncle Sev."

The two stayed silent for a long while, before Harry decided to break the comfortable silence. "Uncle Sev?"

The man rolled his eyes slightly. "Will I ever manage to get you to call me Uncle Severus again?"

That produced a laugh from the younger boy. "Don't think so."

"Brat." Severus sighed and conceded defeat on that matter. "What is it you wanted?"

Harry sat up a bit against hi pillows. "Why am I here? Not that I mind, but aren't there classes? And what about Granddad? How is he doing? Is he still at St Mungo's?"

Severus raised a calming hand. "Calm down, child, one thing at a time."

Harry bit his lip and nodded in agreement. "Sorry."

The man shook his head and shifted so he was seated more comfortably on the bed. "Don't worry about your grandfather. He is at Hogwarts now, Minerva told him what had happened with Nirian and he decided he wanted to be there rather than at the Hospital. I still don't get how he convinced the healers, but he appeared there with Minerva and his brother."

Harry's eyebrows shot up. "His brother is there?"

Severus nodded slightly. "Indeed. Anyway, Poppy had a fit, but in the end she agreed to keep him there until he his well enough to be on his own. He asked me to get you out of Hogwarts; he wanted you to have time to recover, if you remember it's only one week till Christmas, and you'll remain here until then. Hopefully, Albus will be joining us by then."

Harry was smiling softly by the time Severus was finished. "We'll really spend Christmas here? I'm so looking forward to it." Then he started to frown a bit. "What about my friends? They must know by now who I really am."

Severus pressed his lips together. "I'll talk to Minerva and will see if she allows them to come here one of these days, I realize you would like to talk to them for a while."

Harry nodded gratefully and rested his head against the pillows, feeling a bit sleepy now that all of his concerns had been appeased. Severus, noticing, got up from the bed and moved to tuck him in. The boy blinked and frowned lightly.

"Don't want to go back to sleep yet, I have been sleeping too much lately."

Severus looked slightly amused at that. "Maybe you have, but you certainly need it. Besides, it doesn't look like you'll remain awake for very long, your eyes are about to fall closed."

Harry's eyes, which were indeed nearly closed, snapped open at once, eliciting a chuckle from the usually stern man. "Oh, go to sleep, you silly boy. It's not like you have pressing matters to attend to and your body really needs the rest."

The teenager pouted lightly but finally allowed himself to relax into the comforting darkness.

To be continued...

A/N: Thanks for all reviews and thanks to my beta-reader, Vinnie.


	45. Meetings with old friends

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations.

Harry shifted nervously on the couch as he waited for Severus to return. The man had gone to Hogwarts to retrieve Ron and Hermione, after Minerva had granted permission for them to miss their morning lessons. The black-haired Gryffindor wasn't looking forward to the reunion with his friends, but knew that it needed to be done. At least, he wouldn't have to deal with Sirius and Remus until later on. The werewolf was still at St Mungo's and Sirius had managed to stay with him until now. He didn't know if they had heard about him yet, Severus had avoided that question when he had asked, and for his part, Harry wasn't very eager to talk to them yet. After all, he knew how his godfather felt about Severus and right now, if he had to choose between the two men, he was afraid he would choose the Slytherin Head of House instead of his Godfather. After all, the Potions Master had been there for him all this time in a way that Sirius hadn't had the chance to be.

He had been so lost in thoughts that he jumped up from his chair when the fireplace roared to life and Severus entered the living room. The tall man looked down at him with an intent look, as if to see if he was feeling well enough for that particular meeting. Hearing the fire flare again, the Potions Master stepped aside and allowed Hermione to enter the living room. Harry stood up a bit shakily, that morning he had completely given up his disguise as Alec. His hair was back to his natural black colour; Severus had changed his lenses so they were now transparent, he had come to prefer them to his glasses and had decided to keep wearing them. The make up that had been covering his scar for months had also disappeared, leaving the mark plainly visible on his forehead. The only thing that showed he had been Alec was the Phoenix pendant he wore around his neck, in which the charm to modify his voice had been dispelled, and the clothes he wore.

For a minute, Hermione stood there, just staring at him with huge eyes. It looked like she hadn't really believed she was going to meet him. When the fact that he was really standing there finally entered her brain, she jumped and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. Harry bit his lip, unsure of how to react at such an action. He saw Ron enter the living room and stare at him the same way Hermione had just done. While the girl continued hugging him, the two boys stared at each other seriously, no hint of a smile on either of their faces. Harry knew Ron well enough to know he wouldn't have reacted well to the news. Especially if you took into account who he now considered to be something like a father figure. With a half amused thought, he wondered what would piss the red-head off worse, the fact that he had been lying to him or the fact that he called Severus Snape "Uncle".

Finally, after a few minutes of tense silence, Hermione drew back and Ron came closer. It seemed like none of them wanted to start the painful conversation. Harry was very aware that Snape had left as soon as Ron had entered the room and knew that he was on his own for now. The three of them were very relieved when Twinkle appeared with a soft pop and a tray of tea in her hands.

"Master Severus asked Twinkle to get tea for Young Master."

Harry gave her a grateful smile and helped the elf to put the things on the low table in front of the couches. "Thank you, Twinkle."

The elf nodded and disappeared with a soft pop. Turning towards his friends, Harry nodded to the couch.

"Why don't you sit down? I doubt you came all the way here to stare at me."

Ron snorted, and without a word he plopped down on one of the couches with Hermione at his side and Harry opposite of them. They drank tea for a moment, before Harry decided to get this over with.

"I'm sure you have questions."

That was what Hermione seemed to need, because at once she started to ask. "Why? Why this charade?"

Harry shrugged slightly. "I thought that would be obvious. It was all for protection, I wasn't safe as Harry Potter and you weren't safe while I was around."

Hermione sighed. "So, you left the Dursley, Dumbledore found you and decided to do things this way?"

The other boy shook his head. "No, Dumbledore went to check on me, I was ill and you know the Dursley would never take me to a doctor. Grandfather decided to take me away, and after that, he came up with everything else."

Ron growled at him. "He is not your grandfather! He is the Headmaster!"

Harry looked at him intently. "He has taken care of me, treated me as if I was a member of his own family. He loves me and I love him, we may not be related by blood but otherwise he is my grandfather, and unless he tells me he doesn't wish to be called that I will keep addressing him that way."

Hermione quickly spoke before the red-head had the chance to reply. "So the only ones to know about this were Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape? I can understand the first two, but why Professor Snape?"

Harry was shaking his head. "No, Hermione, no one knew about this at first. Only Dumbledore, Twinkle, and I knew. We were aiming for maximum safety and every time someone found out, the safety became lesser." Smirking a bit, he added. "Can you really believe Uncle Sev would have treated me the way he has if he had known I was Harry Potter?"

The dark-haired Gryffindor saw how Ron clenched his fists. "How can you call that bastard "Uncle"?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Because he has been one to me this entire time. Because I got to know him without the prejudices and the hatred and managed to see the man he hides behind the mask."

Hermione, sensing they were quickly heading towards an argument, interceded again. "Why don't you tell us how everything happened? It will probably make much more sense that way."

Agreeing with her, Harry relaxed a bit against the couch and started to talk. He didn't want to spend hours talking and there were things that were private, but in the end, he managed to get his point across. Ron, who had passed through several stages of anger and surprise, finally threw up his hands and shook his head.

"Only the headmaster could come up with such a ridiculous idea and make it work."

Hermione and Harry laughed softly, agreeing with the other's assessment, but Ron wasn't finished. "Ok, I can understand about the need of being Alec, but what about Snape? He wasn't necessary for the plan to work."

Harry shook his head. "No, he wasn't. But I've come to like him, he is interesting to be around with, he looks out for me."

Ron was still shaking his head while the other boy spoke. "Are we talking about the same greasy git here?"

The black-haired Gryffindor grimaced. "Please, don't call him that, you don't have to like him, but I do."

"Still don't see how you can forgive him everything he has been doing to you over the years."

Hermione shook her head. "I think Harry grew up, Ron, and managed to get over petty grudges."

The red-haired boy snorted. "You're talking about someone that has spent months pretending to be eleven."

Harry laughed. "Gave me more time to think about things." Jumping up from his seat without giving the redhead a chance to reply, he nodded towards the chess set he had gotten for his birthday. "Want to play, Ron?"

The boy looked a bit surprised at the sudden change but readily agreed. He still couldn't understand most of what his friend had gone through but he guessed he would never completely understand it. Maybe, he reasoned, that wasn't even necessary. Harry was there, safe, with a family who loved him and which he adored, for now, that was more than enough. Hermione seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because she sat down next to them and watched the game.

Just as it had been a few months ago, when they had played in the train, the game was very evenly matched, but unlike that time, this time Harry actually won. Hermione and Ron were both quite surprised when the redhead was forced to admit defeat, but Harry was ecstatic. Jumping out of his chair, he started to whirl around the room laughing that he had won which in turn made the other two laugh. Severus found them like this barely a minute later and frowned.

"Harry!" The tone of voice was stern but not overly harsh. "I thought we had agreed that you wouldn't get too exited about anything? You're still recuperating."

The boy stopped at once and stared sheepishly at the man. "Sorry, Uncle Sev, but I beat Ron at chess!"

Severus had just enough time to catch the boy in his arms as he jumped in to them. Ron and Hermione, who had become silent when the man entered the room, couldn't help but watch in amazement as the tall man hugged their friend close before putting him back on his feet.

"I'm very glad to hear that, child. But now it's time for your friends to go back to Hogwarts and you to get back in bed. Poppy is going to come in a bit to check on you, and I won't hear the end of it if she finds you in this state."

Harry pouted a bit, but one look into the man's face told him he was quite serious about that. Sighing, he turned to his friends and smiled slightly, accepting a hug from Hermione and a pat on his shoulder from Ron. They both quietly told him they would see him one of these days and headed towards the fireplace, where Severus was patiently waiting for them. Turning towards his charge he nodded towards the door that led to the hall.

"I'll take your friends back to Hogwarts; I want you in bed when I get back."

Harry nodded slightly and the trio left. Knowing he hadn't been given much of a choice, the teenager turned around and went to his bed. Maybe he could convince Severus to play a game of chess with him, and maybe he would even be able to win.

To be continued...

A/N: Well, just one more chapter to go and it will be done, I hope you liked this one. Thanks for all the reviews and thanks to Vinnie for beta-reading this.


	46. Christmas

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Web of Lies: Revelations

Christmas started out as a very cold day. It was snowing heavily outside and the wind was howling. Harry woke up slowly that morning and hearing the sounds coming from outside, he buried his face deeper into the blankets and closed his eyes, willing himself to fall asleep once more. Sadly for him, Severus didn't have the same idea. Barely a few minutes later, the man strode into the room and opened the curtains so that the slight, winter light filled the room. The teenager lying on the bed, buried his head deeper under the blankets, trying to ignore everything going on around him.

Severus snorted when he looked towards the bed and all he saw were a few strands of black hair. He had half expected to be wakened up very early in the morning so that they could open presents, but it seemed that Harry didn't share that with his fellow teenagers. A small voice in his head told him that he might never have had any reason to do such a thing. Trying to ignore that fact, the man walked over to the bed and gently shook the teenager.

"Come on, Harry, wake up."

The boy barely moved, he only mumbled under his breath and the few strands of hair disappeared completely under the blankets. Chuckling, Severus sat down, realising it might take some effort to get the young wizard out of bed.

"Don't you want to open presents?"

A muffled 'later' was all he got for his efforts. Resorting to something a bit harsher, he took the blankets into his hands and yanked them down a bit so that Harry's head was uncovered. He nearly laughed out loud when the boy turned around and hid his face into his pillow so that the light didn't disturb him.

"Harry…"

The young wizard finally opened an eye and glared up to his uncle. "Ok, ok, I'm up, happy?"

Severus rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll have to see it to believe it. Come on, out of bed with you, lazy-bones."

Knowing he wouldn't be allowed to go back to sleep, Harry dragged himself out of bed and after picking up the clothes that Twinkle had put out for him, he locked himself in the bathroom. Returning to his room, he found Snape gone. Assuming that the man had gone to the living room, he left his quarters.

He was expecting Snape to be on his own, so Harry was quite surprised when he heard him talking to someone. Entering the brightly decorated room, his breath caught when he saw the tall form seated in one of the comfortable armchairs.

"Granddad!"

Both men looked up at the delighted cry, and Albus just had time to see the large smile that covered the youth's face before the small boy caught him in a dead-grip. Chuckling slightly, the old headmaster gently patted Harry's back.

"Hello there, my boy. How are you doing?"

Drawing away slightly, Harry sank to his knees in front of the old wizard. "I'm fine; Uncle Sev has been taking good care of me." Looking mischievously to the Potions Master, he added, "too good sometimes, he doesn't allow me to do anything!"

At once Severus slapped him lightly on his behind. "Careful, brat, or you'll be spending this evening in the Potions lab working with the most disgusting ingredients."

Knowing that the man didn't really mean it, Harry smiled lightly at him before returning his attention to the old man. "How about you, Granddad? I thought Madam Pomfrey wouldn't allow you to come here so soon."

Dumbledore smiled softly at the thought of the over-protective nurse. "She wasn't very happy with me, but I promised I would return after lunch. And she made Severus swear he would keep an eye on me and that he would drag me back at the slightest sign of tiredness."

Despite only having a few short hours with the man, Harry was ecstatic. He had wanted to visit the old man in the hospital wing before, but Severus had forbidden it quite forcefully. Not only because he was still recuperating, but also because it would attract unneeded attention. He had been able to talk to the old man through the fireplace twice, but it hadn't been the same. Now he had the whole morning to spend with Dumbledore and he wouldn't miss a single minute out of it.

Twinkle appeared with a large tray filled with breakfast and the three of them started to eat, while Harry explained in detail what had happened in the last few days, which wasn't much but helped to keep his grandfather amused. Once they were done, Dumbledore motioned towards the tree.

"I believe it is time to open presents. Why don't you go ahead, Harry?"

The boy looked at the large mount of presents with narrowed eyes before sighing and sitting down next to them.

"Let's see what store you emptied this time, Granddad."

As it turned out, the presents were not only from Dumbledore. Chris and Amanda had also added a few along with Aberforth, making him feel welcomed into a family that he was starting to consider his own. The Potions Master had given him a box full of potion ingredients that they would use in their lessons along with a wizarding radio. From McGonagall he got a book on animagus, which he had yet to try out. Even his friends had sent him a few things, even though they must have rushed to get them on such short notice.

An hour was spent admiring the different presents and joking about the things others had received. When the last present had been opened and the paper had been thrown away, Harry relaxed on the floor next to his grandfather.

"Happy, child?"

Harry opened his brilliant green eyes and beamed up to the man. "It has been the best Christmas ever, Granddad, thank you."

Dumbledore chuckled lightly and gently ruffled the boy's head. "It was my pleasure, my child." Looking towards the tall man sitting quietly on the couch, looking through one of the books he had given him, Dumbledore decided it was time to have a serious discussion with the two. "Harry."

The boy looked up, a bit confused at the sudden serious tone. "Is there something wrong?"

Severus, who had also looked up from his book, frowned. "Are you feeling unwell, Albus?"

The old headmaster shook his head lightly and smiled reassuringly. "No, I'm fine. But I think it's time that we talked about what's going to happen now that everyone knows."

A feeling of dread started to fill Harry. Was he now going to lose the family he had just gained? Before he could start to sink into depression, a strong hand gripped his shoulder and forced him to look up at his grandfather's now stern face.

"Whatever it is you're thinking about, young man, if it has anything to do with breaking up this little family, you can forget it right now."

Harry relaxed immediately, it didn't seem like the man was going to abandon him yet. Smiling slightly up to his grandfather, he nodded lightly. He was about to comment when he saw Severus stand up and start heading towards the door. Before he could say anything, his grandfather's voice sounded through the room.

"Severus, where are you going?"

The man turned around, a startled look on his face. "I assumed you would like to talk privately."

Dumbledore sighed impatiently; both of his protégés could be so dense sometimes. "Get back here and sit down, this discussion certainly concerns you as well."

Rolling his eyes slightly, he obeyed the command and returned to his seat, half knowing what the man wanted to talk about. Returning his attention to the boy still sitting at his feet, Dumbledore started to speak.

"My time at Hogwarts has not only been spent by fending ministry wizards, reporters, and noisy people off. While they were all intent in trying to figure out everything you have been up to, I have managed to get guardianship papers over you, Harry. The only think that is still needed is your signature and after that, you'll be officially under my care, no matter what the Ministry says."

Harry couldn't repress a brilliant smile that grew on his face. To be Dumbledore's ward officially was a bit of a dream come true. Sure, he had been under his protection and care all this time, but it seemed silly how much a piece of paper could give him the security he had felt lacking till then.

"That's wonderful! Where do I need to sign?"

The old man chuckled softly and exchanged an amused glance with Severus, who was at the moment wearing a pleased smirk on his face.

"A bit of patience, my child, there is something I want to talk to you before we get to the paper work. I have been thinking…"

Harry rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath. "Oh boy, that is always dangerous."

Severus had to stifle a chuckle as the older man continued imperturbably. "Next term you would have to return to fifth year, because it is quite ridiculous to have you in first year when everyone knows." Harry quickly nodded in agreement. "On the other hand, it's a fact that you are already past fifth level. I'm sure you could take most of your OWLs easily right now."

Harry frowned lightly. "I don't think I could pass potions or herbology, nor history of magic and divination."

Dumbledore smiled softly. "I know, child, and don't worry, making you pass your owls now was not the idea. Anyway, in some subjects you're far ahead of your peers and in the other ones, Severus could easily bring you up to level."

The wizard in question immediately opened his mouth to protest. "I absolutely refuse to teach him divination. I didn't take it when I was a student and I have no intention to start looking into it to teach someone, not even Harry."

Dumbledore couldn't help but laugh at the forceful statement. "Don't worry, Severus, I'm sure Harry can be convinced to take either ancient runes or arithmancy, maybe even both."

Placated, the Potions Master nodded in agreement and settled back. Harry was looking a bit confused at the two of them. "So, Uncle Sev is going to teach me after lessons? Will there be enough time for that?"

The old headmaster shook his head lightly. "Not exactly, Harry." He drew out an old book from the folds of his robes. "The apprenticing system was installed at Hogwarts at the time of The Founders."

Realisation started to dawn on the boy's face as he was given the book. "Salazar told me."

Dumbledore looked pleased at this. "Good, good, then you at least know the basic facts. There have been a few changes since Salazar's time, that's why I would like you to read that book and think about being apprenticed to Severus. I think that would be best for you, but I will allow you to choose since it will affect your future."

Frowning lightly, Harry turned to the silent man. "You would agree to be my master?"

Severus winced slightly at those words. "Only if you agree to only call me that in class, a bit as you would use my professor title; I refuse to be called that by you if it's not necessary."

Harry nodded, he didn't like having to call the man that either, so it would work out fine. Turning to Dumbledore, he nodded lightly. "I will think about it, but if you permit the question, what does this have to do with getting guardianship over me?"

Albus gently ruffled the boy's head. "Usually, when a master takes on an apprentice, he also gets joint guardianship over him so that he can act in case of something happening and the actual guardian or parent not being there. It also creates a deeper bond between Master and Apprentice that many think is very beneficial to the apprenticeship."

The teenager nodded in understanding. That would certainly be one of the good things about this, but still, he wanted to think about the whole thing. Sensing that the boy wanted to think about everything, Dumbledore engaged Severus in a conversation over the school and Harry moved to a couch and opened the book he had just been given. He didn't have much time till term started and he had to make a decision.

That evening, Severus was just bottling the potion he had started to brew after Dumbledore left when he heard a soft knock on his door. Having been expecting it, he cleaned the cauldron with a wave of his wand and opened the room. Harry was standing at the other side, as expected, a pensive frown on his face.

"Hello, Harry."

The boy nodded in greeting. "I have a few questions, Uncle, do you have time to talk now?"

The man smiled at the slightly anxious face. "This is about the apprenticeship, right?"

When Harry nodded, the man closed the door after him and wrapping a long arm over the boy's shoulders, he steered him to the living room. "Let's get comfortable and get some supper."

The two of them made their way to the large room and settled down on the round table situated to the right of the fireplace. Twinkle immediately popped their dinner on the table and after asking if they needed anything else, she disappeared with a soft pop. For the first ten minutes, both men concentrated on eating. By the time that dessert came around, Harry decided to broach the subject.

"So, you really would be willing to teach me? How would you be able to do that while teaching your classes?"

Severus placed his spoon down. "You would be doing quite a bit of work on your own while I teach, either in the library or with me in the lab."

"The book said I could have more than one teacher if the master chose so, would that be the case?"

The Potions Master shrugged lightly. "You would continue your lessons with Rowena and Salazar, and you could probably have a few lessons with Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey, but at least for the first year, you would be working mainly under my tutelage."

Harry nodded lightly and moved over to another subject. "Would I be allowed contact with my friends? From what I gathered from the book, apprentices usually lead a very lonely life."

Severus looked at the boy intently. His expressive eyes were trained to him and he could easily pick up the fear of loneliness in them. Even though during that year he had been forced to keep away from his friends, he had still had people to spend time with, like the Creevy girl. Sighing, the man stood up and went to kneel next to the boy's stool.

"Harry, you have to realise that as an apprentice, your workload will be heavier than that of a normal student. You won't only be expected to keep up with your own work, but also to help me with my duties." Harry nodded, he had read that part. "But, if you organize yourself well, you should have time to spend it with your friends. The only thing I will demand of you is that you finish everything first, ok? After that, your time will be your own, even if it might not be much, especially in the beginning. Will that be ok?"

The teenager nodded, reading in between the lines of what the man had said. He wouldn't be forbidden to see his friends, but he would probably not have much time for them. That made him feel sad and not so sure he wanted to go on with this. He knew he had power and that the apprenticeship to Severus would be the best way to learn to handle it properly. But on the other side he longed for a normal life, especially now that Voldemort was finally dead.

The Potions Master stood back up and returned to his place, he could see the doubt in those green eyes. He wished he could have told him differently, but he wasn't about to lie to the boy now and have problems later on. Harry had been right when he said that an apprentice led a lonely live; he didn't have much time beyond that what he spent with his Master. Was it right to ask him to make such a decision now? After he had had to spend so much time away from his friends? This would only make things worse and if he hadn't lost their friendship yet he was sure to lose it now. Not because of a fight or a misunderstanding, but rather because of lack of time spent together.

Both finished their dessert quickly and after that, Harry withdrew to his rooms to think. Severus debated for a moment whether it would be prudent to follow him, but after a moment decided against it and instead he went to Hogwarts, he needed to talk to Albus about this.

He was lucky; the old man had awakened shortly before and had just finished eating his dinner when he arrived. Madam Pomfrey looked a bit reluctant, but finally allowed him to talk to her patient. Albus listened intently as the Potions Master quickly told him the details of the conversation he had just had with the boy. After he fell silent, the headmaster leaned against his pillows and looked pensively.

"What do you think, Albus? Is there anything we can do about it?"

The older man frowned in thought, his eyes slowly starting to twinkle as an idea formed in his mind. With a sharp snap of his fingers, a house-elf appeared in frond of them.

"What can Dobby do for you, Master Dumbledore?"

The old man smiled kindly down to the exuberant house-elf. "Ah. Dobby, could you please go ask Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Vector if they can join me up here? Also, ask Professor Sprout but make sure to tell her to only come if she's feeling up to it."

The house-elf nodded eagerly and flapped his ears quickly. "Dobby will do so at once, Master Dumbledore."

Ten minutes later, all the heads of house were gathered around the headmaster's bed, looking curiously at the man lying there. As was usual with the man, instead of going straight to the point, he started to talk about other things.

"Ah, Pomona, it's good to have you back with us, how are you feeling, my dear?"

The witch nodded slightly, her face was still very pale, but the healers in St Mungo's had assured them that she would be alright as long as she took things easy. "I'm fine, Albus, how about you?"

The old man smiled brightly. "Fine, fine, I only whish I could escape Madam Pomfrey more often, but other than that I'm fine."

The soft chuckles turned to laughter as they saw the nurse poke her head around the door of her office and glare towards her patient. "I heard every word, Albus Dumbledore, and just for that you're going to spend a week longer in that bed."

Dumbledore shook his head in amusement as she disappeared again and turned his attention to Professor Vector. "How are things coming along?"

The professor sighed softly. "It will take some time getting used to being the Gryffindor head of house next year, Albus, my work load was already tight and now with this it will be worse."

The old wizard nodded in acknowledgement and his eyes turned serious. "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you all about. I have been thinking to reinstate the apprenticing system. It would only be for Heads of Houses since I don't want what happened a hundred years ago repeating itself."

At Pomona's look of confusion, he elaborated. "The apprentice system was disabled then because quite a few teachers used their apprentices to do all the menial work they didn't wish to do and didn't really bother to teach them anything beyond normal lessons. I know for a fact that none of you will abuse the students put in your care." Motioning to Severus, he continued with his explanation. "Severus has agreed to take Harry under his tutelage, but while talking about it with the boy, the fact that he is going to be spending a lot of time on his own came up. I would like it if some of you also took an apprentice, it wouldn't be an obligation, of course, but I think it would help you as well as the students under your care."

Minerva was looking pensively, it sounded like a good idea. "How would this work, Albus? I thought that apprentices only learned under their masters, even though there was more than one apprentice, they would still have to work on their own."

The old man nodded in agreement. "That's true in a way, as I'm sure you wouldn't teach the same things as Severus. But while you are teaching your lessons, your apprentice would either be with you in the classroom or in the library. You could agree upon a few hours each day of mandatory library time in which all the apprentices would be there together, even though they weren't working on the same thing."

Filius nodded. "I guess that would work, also, maybe we could design some kind of core lessons for all of them to take. I would like my apprentice to learn some advanced defence even though his main focus was charms, and maybe Severus could teach that to them all."

Severus was nodding in agreement. "That would work, and after the first year, maybe the each apprentice could teach his own core subject."

Nodding, Professor Vector took out a parchment and started to write down everything they were coming up. They would have to work hard on getting everything ready on such short notice, but she thought that it was a wonderful idea.

It was close to four in the morning when Severus stepped through the fireplace into the Dumbledore manor. He was nearly falling over with exhaustion but he was pleased. What had until then been only loose ideas in their heads, an application of an old tradition, was now a well defined plan that would be officially presented before the board of governors in two days. As soon as the board accepted, as he was sure they would, the other heads of houses were going to choose an apprentice. He was sure all of them already had someone in mind, so that shouldn't present too much of a problem, unless two of them choose the same student. The name of Hermione Granger came to mind at that, but he pushed it away, that wasn't going to be a problem for him.

As he was removing the ashes from his robes, he was startled by a soft sigh. Turning around, he saw Harry curled up on a couch, soundly asleep. Shaking his head lightly, he walked up to the boy and took him into his arms.

The movement jostled Harry awake. The boy peered up at the man that was carrying him in his arms with sleepy eyes.

"Uncle Sev?"

The man started to walk towards the boy's room. "What were you doing there, Harry? I doubt that the couch is more comfortable than your own bed."

The boy yawned and leaned against the man's shoulder. "Was waiting for you. Twinkle said you had gone to Hogwarts and wouldn't be long."

Severus felt a bit guilty about that, he had completely forgotten to warn Harry that things would take longer than expected. "I'm sorry, Child. We got caught up in our planning."

Harry blinked, trying to keep his mind focused on the conversation. "Planning? What planning? Is everything ok?"

A gentle hand went up to gently rub his back. "Everything is fine, Child. I brought some of your concerns regarding the apprenticeship up to Albus to see if he had some idea of what to do. We have all decided that each Head of House and the Headmistress will have the privilege to have an apprentice. This way, you won't be the only one and you'll have companions to spend time with."

Harry was smiling softly. "Thank you, Uncle Sev. That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. I accept the apprenticeship."

Severus hugged the nearly sleeping boy closer to him and chuckled softly. "Tell me again in the morning, when it doesn't sound like you're sleep talking."

Harry laughed softly but the steady rhythm of the man's footsteps completely lulled him to sleep.

Familiar screaming woke him up the next morning. Frowning, he sat up in his bed, barely remembering how he got there in the first place, and rubbed his eyes, trying to listen to who was making all that racket. He could easily recognise the voices now that he was more awake. Groaning, he forced himself to get out of the warm bed and into the cold room. He needed to get down there before his godfather killed his uncle, but on the other hand, he really didn't want to get in the middle of those two. Knowing he didn't have much of a choice, he quickly got dressed in warm clothes and hurried down the stairs.

He was shocked by the sight that met him downstairs; he had expected to find Severus and Sirius arguing with each other, he had heard that from his room. What he certainly hadn't been expecting was for his godfather to have his uncle slammed against a wall ignoring the werewolf who was trying to get his arms away from the Potions Master's neck.

Anger started to run through him at that sight of his uncle being pinned there, nearly defenceless, against the enraged man. Without even thinking about it, his magic surged, and sent an electric spark through the animagus' arms, forcing him to drop Severus with a cry of pain.

Before any of them could say a word, the youth's angry voice ran through the room.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Sirius?"

The two adult Gryffindors turned around sharply, coming face to face with him, while Severus picked up his wand and stood up. Without even glancing his way, the man left the room, slamming the door after him and making Harry wince internally. Before he could decide between following the man and make sure he was alright, or stay and yell at his godfather, strong arms enveloped his tense form.

"Harry! You're alright! I'm so glad to see you again."

As much as he would have liked to give in into his godfather's hug at any other moment, he was too angry to even consider it right now.

"Let go of me, Sirius!"

The man let him go, rather startled at the angry reception. "What's wrong?"

Harry blinked in disbelieve. "What's wrong? You're asking me what's wrong? I just woke up to your screaming and when I come down here I see you with Professor Snape slammed against a wall trying to throttle him. That's what's wrong!"

Sirius shook his head, clearly not understanding what the big deal was. "Harry, it was just Snape."

The boy narrowed his eyes. "And that's supposed to make it alright?"

The animagus opened his mouth to reply, but no answer came out. Instead, he started to frown. "What did Snivellus do to you?"

The anger bubbling inside him was growing with each word that came out of the man's mouth, but he was still barely managing to contain himself. "What makes you think that he did something to me?"

"Because you're defending him!"

The teenager clenched his fists. "So you're saying that just because I am mature and you are nothing else than a bully, he has to have done something to me?" Before Sirius had a chance to defend himself, Harry started to scream. "I am defending him because he has been helping me, because he has taken care of me, because I like him. I am defending him because you had absolutely no right to rush in here and attack him."

"I was trying to find you!"

Harry stepped closer, forcing the man to flinch back at the magic surging through the enraged boy. "Well, you've found me, and not only have you found me, but you've managed to prove to me once again that you're nothing more than an immature bully that justifies his actions through his own bloody prejudices."

By the time he said that, all the windows in the room were rattling under the assault of his magic. Remus, seeing that things were about to get out of control, firmly gripped Sirius' arm and dragged him to the fireplace. Without giving the man time to react, he tossed a bit of floo powder into the fireplace and called out for Hogwarts, sending his friend through the fire as soon as it turned green.

Once the wizard had disappeared, the werewolf turned around to face the boy, who was still trembling in anger but whose magic was starting to calm. "I'm sorry you had to witness that, Harry."

The boy pursed his lips together. "Don't apologise for him, Remus."

"I'm not, Child. Are you going to be ok?"

Silently the boy nodded causing the werewolf to sigh. "I'm going back to Hogwarts; I have to make sure Sirius isn't stupid enough to return here right now. Send me an owl if you need help, Harry."

Once again the teenager nodded and then watched as the werewolf left the room. Finally alone, he sagged against the wall and sat down on the floor, trying to let go of the anger still drowning him. He was snapped out of his dark thoughts when a small hand was placed on his knee.

"Is Young Master alright?"

The boy gave her a pained smiled and sat up straighter. "I've been better. Do you know if Uncle Sev is alright?"

The elf dropped her ears a bit. "Master Severus locked himself in his lab and told Twinkle not to bother him, Young Master."

Not having expected anything else, the teenager nodded and sighed. He would have to talk to the man, apologise for what his godfather had done to him, but right now he wasn't in the right frame of mind to do that. Standing up, he decided that the best he could do was to go back to his rooms. Twinkle frowned as she watched him move. "Does Young Master want breakfast?"

Without turning, the teenager shook his head. "No, thank you, Twinkle, I'm not hungry."

Harry spent his whole day locked up in his room. Not an hour after the fight, an owl had arrived bearing a letter from his godfather, but he had just taken it and thrown it under a few books without opening. He really was in no mood to hear what his godfather had to say. At lunch time, Twinkle came with food but once again he dismissed her, not in the mood for eating either. For the rest of the evening, he buried himself in his books, trying to ignore the dread that filled him on how Severus was going to react. What had happened that morning was bound to bring back awful memories, all related to Harry's father. Knowing how his Potions Master could be, Harry was in no hurry to see him anytime soon; he probably would be blamed and all the time they had spent together would mean nothing.

Twinkle appeared again at dinner time, he was about to dismiss her again when she spoke first.

"Master Severus told Twinkle to tell Young Master to join him for supper in the living room."

Harry tensed lightly, but didn't move his gaze from his books. "Please, tell Professor Snape that I'm not feeling well."

If he had been looking at the elf, he might have seen the disapproving glance she sent his way before disappearing with a pop.

Ten minutes later, his door opened without a knock and the man he had been trying to avoid entered the room. Turning around slightly, his eyes immediately fell on the man's throat and he could easily see the red marks that Sirius' hand had left there. Quickly turning back, his gaze became fixed once again on the page in front of him.

"Twinkle said you weren't feeling well?"

Much to Harry's surprise, the man's voice was fairly neutral, not the hateful drawl he had been expecting. Without turning, the boy nodded slightly. Repressing a sigh, Severus moved to his side silently and placed a cool hand on his forehead, startling the boy.

"You don't have a fever."

Harry went to lower his gaze when the hand moved under his chin and he was forced to look into the man's eyes.

"Twinkle said you haven't eaten anything today."

The boy sighed. "I wasn't hungry."

Severus shook his head and let go of the boy. "Come with me."

Harry frowned slightly. "But..."

"Harry. With me. Now."

Slamming his mouth shut, the boy quickly followed after the man, a bit intimidated by his stern demeanour. The man quickly led him to the living room where the table was already set for two. Severus motioned to a chair and after the boy was sitting, he took the other seat.

The food didn't appear at once, so Harry was forced to look up at his uncle. The man was watching him intently through narrowed eyes, which made him feel uncomfortable.

With his sternest voice, Snape started to speak. "I don't know what you're thinking. Rather, I don't know for sure what you're thinking. But if it has anything to do with what happened this morning being in anyway your fault you are going to forget it right now."

Harry blinked; clearly he hadn't been expecting those words. Bowing his head slightly, he sighed. "But it was my fault, if it hadn't been for me, Sirius wouldn't..."

Severus slammed his hand on the table, effectively cutting off what he had been about to say. "You are not responsible for Black's actions. In fact, you are not responsible for the actions of anyone beyond your own. The thing with the mutt started long before you were even born, and today you were just an outlet for his loathing towards me. And that is, by no means, your fault."

Harry bit his lip; he had been expecting an insulting speech or something like that, not this stern reprimand about how things weren't his fault. He didn't know how to react to that, but luckily Severus wasn't finished yet.

"If I remember correctly, you were rather adamant in your defence of me."

Harry looked up startled. "You heard?"

Snape smirked. "I had to leave the room before I started to curse the mutt, but I certainly wasn't about to leave you alone with Black in the state he was in." Pursing his lips, he added. "And though I can't say I disliked what you said to him, if you speak to any adult that way again you will be either grounded for a long time or spanked. You are still a child and you will show proper respect towards your elders or face the consequences, is that very clear? If for some reason an adult makes you angry or does something to you that you don't like, you will come to me or Albus or anyone you trust immediately, understood?"

Harry nodded, his eyes firmly kept at the table. "Yes, Uncle Severus."

"Something else." The boy didn't move, causing Severus to sigh softly and wonder if he was being too stern, but he needed to have these things said and there was no better time as at the moment. "Your magic sparked rather dangerously today, we will have to reinforce your control over it."

Harry finally looked up at those words. "We will?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Unless you have changed your mind about the apprenticeship?"

Harry quickly shook his head. "No, I haven't, but I thought you might have."

The Potions Master groaned. "Why would I have done that? There was no reason to change my mind."

The youth bit his lip and nodded hesitantly. "I think I know that now, but I thought so before."

"You don't have to think anything; there is nothing that would make me change my mind about this unless you tell me you don't wish to be my apprentice. So, is there anything else we need to talk about?"

The younger wizard looked hesitantly towards the man. "Are you alright, Uncle?" At the man's confused look, he nodded lightly to the marks. "That must hurt quite a bit. I'm sorry I wasn't down before."

Severus groaned and buried his head in a hand. "Harry, for the love of Merlin, nothing that happened today was your fault, so no apologies from you are required. I am fine, the marks will have faded by tomorrow, so there's nothing to worry about, ok?"

Harry nodded, finally relaxing against his seat. "Ok."

The Potions Master raised his head. "I trust you're hungrier now?"

The teenager blushed slightly. "A bit, yes."

"Good, I don't want you skipping meals; your grandfather would have my head if he found out."

Dinner progressed silently from then on, with Severus forcing his charge to eat quite a bit to make up from the meals he had missed that day. When they were finished, Harry was told that he was to go upstairs and go to bed. After all, the emotionally filled day and his magical outbursts had tired him out more than he thought. And indeed, when Severus went to check on him half an hour later, the boy was deeply asleep.

Epilogue:

Harry was sitting silently between Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. Everyone had come back from Christmas break an hour before and the feast was about to commence. The students had been shocked and happy to see Dumbledore occupying his seat for what would be one of the last times. The black haired Gryffindor knew how much of a fight his grandfather had had to put up with the nurse to get her to allow him to come this evening.

Once everyone was finally settled, Professor McGonagall stood up and gently ticked her glass with her fork, calling for silence. Normally Dumbledore would have stood up to make an announcement, but this time the old man remained seated. Even so, his voice carried through the room effortless.

"Welcome back to another term at Hogwarts, I hope that these holidays were restful for you all. I have many things to explain to you this evening, so I hope you can give me a bit of your time before we eat to listen intently to what I need to say. As you were told last term, this will be my last year as headmaster of this school and Minerva McGonagall was officially appointed as my successor a few days ago, so next year she will be the one leading things from where I sit now."

The students muttered softly, they had all known that and yet, when they had seen Dumbledore sitting there they had hoped. Smiling gently, the old man raised an old hand to ask for silence again.

"I think it is time for changes, big changes that won't only affect this school but also the whole magical community. Last term two of those changes were already implemented. Lord Voldemort was destroyed and a new minister was chosen, but that, as much as it will affect us latter on, is not of our concern right now. What will affect you right now are the changes that are going to be implemented in the school through this year. As stated before, Minerva will take the role of Headmistress leaving behind the position of deputy headmistress and Gryffindor head of house. After speaking intensively to all faculty and to the broad of Governors it had been agreed that Professor Vector will take on the role of Gryffindor Head of House and that Professor Snape will, from now on, be the Deputy headmaster."

Harry's head snapped up in surprise. Why hadn't he been told about that? He quickly looked towards his uncle and saw him smirking his way, his dark eyes twinkling in amusement. The boy couldn't help for his face to fall into a small pout, they could have told him about that before.

When the students finally became silent again, the headmaster was able to continue. "Moving on, you will have noticed that the table belonging to the fifth house is now empty. The students who lived in the fifth house will now be able to return to their own houses with the understanding that if they step out of line again they will find themselves automatically suspended." The whole student body tensed at the man's words, knowing that that was not an idle threat. "Of course, after the happenings of last term I hope that most prejudices have been erased and that a healthy rivalry will come from everything that happened." Dumbledore paused for a moment and took a long sip from his cup. "I imagine that by now you're getting tired of listening to me, but I have one last matter to address. As some of you may guess, the duties of the heads of houses have been increasing lately. Those of you who have read Hogwarts: A history, will know that to help out the professors an apprenticeship system was installed at the time of the founders. Now, this practice was suspended about a hundred years ago because of the abuse some apprentices suffered under their masters. Now, the heads of houses and myself have reviewed the rules in which the apprenticeship worked in the past and with the Board of Governor's approval, I'm happy to say that this ancient practice will be reinstated. Once the apprentices are announced, they will have up to a week to refuse or accept. You need to make sure that this is what you really want; because the apprenticeship will last for five years from the moment you begin. In your common rooms you will find a small book for each of you that will explain in detail what will be expected from you and what you can expect to receive from the apprenticeship. As said before, for now only the heads of houses and headmistress will have apprentices but if the practice works, then the other professors will be able to join the program if they whish to."

The students were whispering excitedly between themselves, no longer paying attention to Dumbledore. The old man, seeing he wouldn't regain their attention just snapped his fingers and made the food appear. The heads of houses would explain everything that he had forgotten later on, in the privacy of the common rooms. Looking towards his grandson, he couldn't help but smile slightly. The boy was chatting happily with his two friends. He was glad that they were working on repairing their relationship; it was just what Harry needed.

The boy seemed to sense his gaze on him, because he looked towards him and sent him a small wave with his hand. The old man returned it and finally turned his eyes to his meal. He had a feeling that everything would be alright.

The end.

A/N: Well, that's it, the final chapter of Web of Lies. I hope no one has complains about the length this time glares Anyway, as I'm sure everyone is interested in knowing whether there's going to be a sequel, the answer is: probably yes, but it will take some time. I have several ideas for a sequel, but I don't have much time to write and I want to finish at the very least Forest of Mystery before starting anything new, I really can't have so many stories running at the same time anymore. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and once again, thanks for all reviews and special thanks to Vinnie, who manages to still beta-read my fics after all this time ;)


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